In All The Wrong Places
by Zetic
Summary: Long after the Human-Monster war, the surface world fell into a state of chaos and became an unending nightmare. The eighth human is from that nightmare and is about to enter the Underground, and they're bringing far more than a stick or toy knife... Heavily Souls series/Bloodborne inspired, but not a direct crossover to any one world. AU, OC protagonist. Contains spoilers. (Duh.)
1. Falling Below

At the summit of Mt. Ebott, there is an entrance to another world. A place beneath the horrid, ruined surface. The world above, once inhabited by the proud human race, now lies in the hands of corrupted or undead shells of it's former denizens, beasts, demons, and everlasting dragons that ravage the land. Once, a mighty kingdom rose from the ashes of a great war, and stood tall for all of mankind to inhabit. But, the war left the land lacking a certain element, an element that had been banished to the Underground. The world above became unbalanced, and the darkness of humanity soon spiraled out of control, becoming the world Man inhabits today.

At the precipice of the entryway to this world below, a hulking figure lies near a small bonfire, dreaming, in hopes of keeping his mind collected and together in his sleep.

001

This trip has started off fairly normal for me. And my standards of "normal" include jogging across the remains of a fallen kingdom while clad in full steel plate armor with an enchanted shield and claymore at my side, ready to cleave any demon, beast, hollow, phantom, hunter, destroyer of embers, or even other undead in twain at the drop of a hat. My "life," if it could be called a "life" in the first place (which is debatable), is nothing but a constant wanderlust of destruction of others for my survival. I do not know why I want to survive, I already know I have slipped past the point of return to normality. I have gone insane, seen things with insight only a madman's eyes could help me to see. I have gone hollow inside many times. I have felt my humanity slip away from my grasp, and I have restored it by killing another human so I could take theirs just as many times as I have nearly lost mine. I have hunted and killed so many beings, just to rip their soul from them and to absorb the echoes of their blood, all in the name of empowering my own soul and body.

I have committed atrocities aplenty.

To top it all off, I have died more times than I can count. And I swear, it has only been a single day and a single, horrific night and an everlasting morning since all of this began. If I think back, far, FAR back, I can remember wars. Wars I fought in... or… was it my father who fought in them… it hardly matters, he and everyone else I know are long gone. Hrrm… what… the wars! Yes, the wars. I remember them vaguely, a war against the undead, a war against giants… my own war against the One Night and the beasts that came from the shadows it brought... Perhaps I took part in two wars before… or maybe I was just a boy when they happened. I can scarcely even remember my own name, sometimes I can recall little fragments of it.

I doubt the veracity of my own memory. Maybe I imagined the wars before mine. I may be insane, but I know for a fact the world around me is true reality. A twisted, rent apart reality. Time feels convoluted and confusing. My mind is in shambles. The only time I truly feel control, even some possible controlled self-introspective, is when I force myself to sleep like I am now. When I wake, I know I will lose much of this once more. Back to the basics. A shell. I can feel the problem within me, I have been broken and incomplete for a long time now. Maybe I have been like this for centuries. Hundreds of years… hmm… the fire's last ember has died... cannot sleep anymore.

/

The sleeping figure's eyes jolt open, his face covered by a steel mask. He has long since forgotten what the mask is, or even what it looks like. The last time he took it off was over a hundred and twelve years ago. The last time he took his armor off, even longer. Yet he looks no worse for wear on the outside by the looks of that armored shell, however, deep on the inside...

He sits up soundlessly and looks to the remains of his small fire, and wonders how long he slept this time. Quickly, he dashes that thought. Time does not matter. He tells himself this every time he awakes, forgetting each time before. As he stands, he reaches to his side and picks up his shield and claymore off the ground, the enchanted blade gleaming in the forever sunrise in the East as he sheathes it to his side.

He's been scaling the mountain for some time now. How many days it would have been, he did not know, nor did he care. He had yet another calling for exploration, one more thing to focus on and show his determination for, another goal. And he has reached a point of interest, a place that tickles the furthest reaches of his mind and memory. The summit of Mount Ebott, where there lies a gaping maw, a hole leading right into the innards of the mountain. Feeling his innate curiosity urging him, he peered down and in. The hole was nothing but pure black, and he was eerily reminded of the Void, a swirling vortex of Man's darkness, where he had fought four corrupted lords.

He did not like remembering that battle despite his victory, nor did he like remembering what he had to do to get into the Void in the first place. More deplorable, rotting memories.

Stepping back, he wandered to his dead bonfire and pulled the blade-like poker from the ashes and ground, then stowed the poker in his bottomless box, kept on the back of his armor's belt. He would have relit it, but he doubted the fire would last long enough for him to use a "homeward" spell to return to it should he need it. Embers only kept bonfires lit for so long, and there were no Keepers nearby keeping a bonfire constantly lit for those like him.

He did not wholly like the idea of returning to the Ruined Kingdom anyways, there was nothing more for him there. He had already defeated plenty of the land's toughest opponents, including the hollowed King himself, and this far away from humanity's roiling corruption, few horrors stirred. He had only encountered a few bull demons on the way to the mountain, it had been an otherwise uneventful trip.

He dared think it was peaceful in this place.

With a shake of his head and an as-usually-silent inner scoff, he refocused on why he was here. Exploration. He approached the hole once more and peered down again. With a bit of thought for the future, he figured it would be best to cast a fall control spell on himself, or maybe even drop a screaming stone down to see if there was any safe drop for him. He decided on both. Reaching into his belt-fastened pouch, he pulled one of the egg-like stones out let it fall in. For a few moments, he listened, and listened, and listened some more. Nothing. Not even a warning scream that the fall was fatal, or a confirmatory chime that it was safe. Silence.

Worriedly, he dropped another, thinking the first may have been a dud. Once more, no response. After crossing his arms, he figured to wing it and use the fall control spell. He unsheathed and held his sword in front of himself, the flat facing him. With a silent recollection of the spell's characteristics, he cast it upon himself using the blade's enchanted nature as a catalyst, and replaced the blade after, making sure it and the rest of his equipment were secured to his armored shell. With a final check, he leapt forward into the center of the hole. The spell would remove all physical effects of a hard fall, from any height. So he simply let himself plummet.

The end of his fall came strikingly quick, and far, FAR harder than it should have, ending up with him flat on his masked face. With a pained moan, he turned his heavy armored form over onto his back to look up. What seemed to be miles of darkness yawned above him, and at the end a small speck of light shone down upon him and his landing zone. With one gauntleted hand, he felt at the ground beneath him, then pulled some of the material up and to his face.

'Flowers… yellow flowers…'

This had been the first time he'd seen color this vivid in quite a long time, the most color his world ever got was the red of spilled blood. For a good few moments, he stared at the flowers, now killed by his hands. He stared at their viscous green juices as they leaked onto his steel gauntlets, and flowed along his plate manchette like slow, green blood. With a wholly empty and airless sigh, he put the flowers back onto their spot, then sat up. He wondered why the fall had hurt, had the spell failed him? He put it out of his mind, he felt no worse for wear, but it had taken him by surprise.

With an airless huff, he brought himself to his feet and examined the flower bed. He had landed smack right in the middle, and his massive armored form had reduced many of the beautiful flowers to a pitiful crumpled mess, leaving a "him shaped" indent. He could feel something worrying him for some reason, a worry that had not surfaced in centuries.

A worry about something other than his own self-preservation, albeit a rather finite worry.

'What if someone takes care of these flowers? I ruined them… hrrm…' The fleeting thought was chased away. Why would he care? They were just flowers. As he thought on it though, the yellow and green stems became oddly precious; the world he inhabited had long since died. Not even the Darkroot Forest, that horrid place, was green anymore. The land he lived in was a land of gray and red. He realized this was the first true life he had seen in quite some time. And he ruined it.

Tearing his eyes away from the regret-inducing mess, he noticed it was not quite so dark down here. If he squinted, he could make out columns and some of the walls surrounding him. Looking harder, he could see a path. If there was a path to follow, who was he not to follow it? He steadily set out, his heavy steel boots and armor clanking rhythmically as he went. He made sure to keep an eye and ear out for anything that would warrant a fight, but no such thing came. Soon, he arrived at a stone entryway. His head was nearly able to touch the top of the structure, so he ducked his head for safety. On the other side, a patch of light greeted him, not too dissimilar to the previous one he had arrived in. Inside this light…

'Another flower…?' He approached the single, large flower and stared down at it. If he looked hard enough at the front of it, he could almost see a…

"Howdy!"

'Face! The flower has a face! And it speaks!' He backed up a bit. He had not had good experiences with faced-or-ambulatory-foliage in the past, specifically of the fungal variety. The flower looked up at him, and squinted…

/

'What is this thing?! It looks like a human in armor, but that horrific mask, and I can feel its soul's sheer power… it doesn't even feel like it's mostly its own! This human has absorbed the souls of other humans! What… how…?' Flowey looked into the darkness of the entry up at the human, and looked at his steel-clad face. The mask's visage was that of a jubilant young child, with a mess of curled steel "hair" at the top, a wide, cracked open smile, and pure black eye-holes. It was rather off-putting as he silently stared, he had backed up when Flowey said hello, and placed his hand at the handle of a rather fear-inducingly large sword that was sheathed at his side.

He quickly devised a plan, perhaps this human coming along was good luck, that soul was FAR over the power he'd need, it seemed nigh limitless. He could trick this human into letting down his guard, and then defeat his soul to take it! He put on his friendliest smile…

"Hey pal, don't worry, I'm just a flower! Flowey the flower! You must be new to the Underground! I bet you're confused, huh?" In response, the human's posture settled, but he did seem confused, if the tilt of his masked head was anything to go by. Whether at him or the Underground, he didn't know or particularly care, he needed to be quick!

"Yep, I can tell! You need someone to teach you how things work around here, don'tcha? I suppose I'll do it, here we go!" As he said the last words, anticipation took over…

/

As the flower continued speaking, the Undead became more paranoid. This thing's speech reminded him of a conniving individual he had dealt with many times before, despite being friends with him. Albeit he was a friend who had once dropped him off a bridge, killing him…

-"I suppose I'll do it, here we go!" With those words, the flower's face changed into a horrific skull-like visage, and a massive wave of magic projectiles sprung out from him, encircling the Undead. With trained reaction time, he un-backed his shield and drew his claymore, quickly casting a lesser magic barrier with his sword and raising his enchanted shield to block as many of the projectiles as he could. The mass of magic washed against his weak, quickly-cast barrier and shield, dissipating a few, but most got through and struck him, angering and egging the flower on. It started to yell at him, about to release more projectiles, when a fireball from the right flew into him, uprooting and sending him far off into the darkness.

The undead fell to his plate-armored knees, his blade jammed into the soft dirt to support him. The magic had done something he had never felt before. It didn't strike his body or non-magical steel armor, instead it seemed to have passed right through his steel and body and went into his very soul and struck it. He felt horribly weak, and as he shut down, he could see a pair of white-furred feet at the edge of his vision and he heard a gasp, before he blacked out into his own little void.

001


	2. Warmth

A/N: I'd just like to say thank you to the first people to read, review, follow, or favorite! I was surprised, seeing as I released it at 1 in the morning and found almost a hundred people had already seen it by the time I checked again! And to reply to the reviews, this character's "Run" will span an entire game's length (And most likely will continue after the game would end, even for if only for a little while), but which run will be revealed later. And yes, I'm a Dark Souls player writing a story about Undertale, will your favorite characters be safe? Who knows…

002

Toriel has a set schedule in her little slice of the Underground. Much of it involves eating snail pie and reading books on the uses of snails, but it's a schedule and a life none the less. Long ago, she took it upon herself to act as a guardian to the ruins and the entryway of the Underground. Her vow is to consistently check the entry for any human who might have fallen down, so that she could save them from those who inhabit her world. She knew they were close to achieving their goal, and she knew she had to make sure no human would be taken advantage of by them ever again.

And even though she didn't know or expect it to happen any time soon, her schedule was about to get a jarringly abrupt interruption.

Her day was reaching the point she always felt like she could look forward to in her little charge of the Monster realm. As usual, she was spending her time reading by her fireplace, the magic flame's warmth pleasing in the somewhat nippier area she lived in. She was just about to finish a particular chapter she nearly had memorized by heart when her cell phone gave an alarming chime.

It was time to go check the entry.

She slid a bookmark into her spot in the book, stood up, and set it on the table across the room before using her magic to snuff out the fire and turn off the lights across the house.

'Have to conserve magical energy, of course!' She gave a little laugh at the thought, then made for the door of her cozy little home, and set out into the ruins. Froggits were hopping about in her leafy "lawn," but they lept out once she noticed them, and dashed off into the Ruins. She huffed, glaring after them. She knew they could feel her gaze as they fled, no one could resist being cowed by it. It was a rather effective means of getting people to listen to her, she wouldn't deny it.

After that little incident, she walked a path she had walked hundreds of times, reset puzzles behind her as she went, navigated trapped paths by muscle memory, and even saw the Napstablook being purposefully lonely, as usual. She could feel for that sentiment, in a way. She was never assigned to be the guardian, she took it upon herself and in doing so she lived out here; far away from any other monster who would willingly or capably hold a conversation or relationship with her.

She was well and truly just like the Napstablook, all alone, of her own volition. Except she was doing some good with herself, or at least she liked to think she would be if another human ever ended up down here. She dismissed it and refocused on her walk. She had subconsciously navigated most of it even though she was distracted, and she was already at the Ruins entry. She could hear something up ahead…

As she stepped through, she could hear a voice angrily yelling, and she saw a large flower-like monster attacking something in the darkness of the archway that led to the entry… that was so much magic!

'No! If that is a human-' She held her paws at the ready, and charged up a fireball strong enough to knock anything off its feet, or stem. As the flower got ready to attack again, she interrupted it by flinging the magical flame in a curving arc at it, uprooting and sending it off far into the darkness.

She briskly made her way to the arch, before stopping dead in her tracks as a massive human-made sword sprung from the dark and jammed into the ground, followed by a weighty "THUMP," startling a gasp out of her as she stood before the sword. A large and metal gauntleted hand shakily held onto the blade's handle, before it slipped off and the being in the dark before her slumped forward. She backed up, and a massive armored upper body fell to the ground before her and knocked the sword loose with it.

Her face held a look of disbelief as she took in the thing. Was it a human? She knew some monsters wore armor, but they wouldn't be this close to the entry without her knowing! It had to be a human! She knelt down and attempted to move the human, but its sheer weight was too much for her meager physical strength alone. Calling on her magic, she pulled him closer to the light the flower had been sitting in, then turned the body over and let it come to a rest on its back. A creepy steel mask stared back, and it gave no indication as to whether or not the human was alive or conscious.

She was nervous. This human was enormous, he was at least large enough to completely fill the archways in these rooms. The humans she had met in the past had been children or younger teens, this was a totally different scenario… speaking of children, the being's mask looked eerily similar to a happy young child, it gave a permanent ever-carefree smile that did not match the armor or size of the individual in any way. The human's mask and cloth covered head was cradled by the armor's large metal collar, so she reached down and tried to remove the mask. She lifted it up and away from the cloth hood, revealing a horribly pale, male face. It looked still and totally at peace. Dark brown eyebrows framed his closed eyes. His face seemed alarmingly emaciated… She gently put the back of her paw to his face, feeling it was ice cold.

She quickly stood and backed up, paws over her mouth, a horrified expression etched into her features.

'Have I failed again? If only I had acted quicker… no… I should have walked here faster… why did I have to take so long! I could have prevented this!' She hastily knelt back down and reset his mask. Panicking, she decided to take him back to her home. She would come back for the sword later, he was heavy enough as is, and she didn't know if he was dangerous or not, but her role as guardian to humans dictated that she must give him a chance and try to save him. With her magic assisting her, she carried him through the ruins as fast as she could. The small monsters made extra sure to part for her as she jogged, having to solve the puzzles and carry the human all along the way.

By the time she got home, she was physically exhausted, and was starting to feel the strain on her magic. Getting the armored man through the Toriel-sized door was a bit of a struggle, and she ended up having to drag him in, scuffing and scratching her hardwood floor, but that was the least of her concerns. Once he finally was in, she bumped into the entry room's stairway banister. With a groan, she snapped her fingers and magically turned her home's lights back on. Once she could see, she repeated the drag process to get him into her room, the children's room wouldn't have any way of housing him. With a final relieved sigh, she set him down on her floor and went to work on his armor, once again removing his mask first. The armor was unlike any design she had seen, the steel plates were as thick as her paw in some places. More than once she had to magically stand him up and unbuckle large sections of it, and even these individual pieces were far too heavy for her, so she let loose pieces fall to the floor, and pulled heavy pieces off with her magic. Soon, he was out of the incredibly thick armor, and he had yet another layer of steel underneath, a suit of chainmail. This was much easier to undo and remove, and once that and his cloth hood were off, she set him on her bed and saw the man underneath the steel.

He was large, even when lacking his armor. He wore tattered old-era commoner clothing underneath all that armor, and his dark brown hair looked like an untouched mess. Two rings adorned his respective ring-fingers on either hand, one was a stone-like piece, the other looked like a ring made of ebony wood.

His body was well built, but even through his clothing she could see he was the most emaciated and thin she had ever seen a human. While there was plenty of muscle, he had no bodily fat to hide his bones beneath, his belly area was like a thin wasteland of nothing but skin-tight muscle and no gut.

She had to stop examining him and get to healing him, if he was still alive. She gently laid her paws over his chest, where his heart was.

Once more, terror overtook her. His heart wasn't beating! She reached out magically to see if his soul was dying, and was met by an unexpected find. This man's soul was immense! It was unlike any soul she had ever seen! Setting aside her shock, she searched for the damage the flower had done, and found it. That kind of damage would have easily destroyed most souls, yet it seemed puny when compared to just how powerful his soul is, yet it had done him in. The man's soul appeared to her mind as a massive black heart outlined in white. It gave off waves of strength, and she felt as though she was looking at the combined souls of countless people and creatures, not just one. The soul was steadily giving the same strength off, it was not dissipating in anyway. That meant…

'He is not dying… but his heart is not beating and he feels as cold as ice…' Needless to say, she had never imagined she would encounter such circumstances, nor had she prepared for them. She believed the only ones to fall into this world were the young, not dead-but-alive men like this! She refocused, she had to try and heal him. She braced her paws firmly onto his chest, and let her healing magic flow onto his overwhelmingly dark soul. The "miniscule" damage it sustained healed nicely, and his soul began to steadily increase in activity. In her mind, she saw a "flaming" pulsation in the outline, giving his soul the appearance of a beating, white-flamed black heart. In a way, it was intimidating and intriguing to see a soul break so many barriers of normality, however, she got the feeling that there was something more that was amiss with his soul. She searched its breadth, and at it's very center she saw a missing section.

The missing section looked like it was about the size of an average human's soul. Almost like a puzzle piece, a part of him seemed to have been ripped free, and raw edges of his large outer soul seemed to scab around the missing section, like it had been this way for quite some time. She was lost as to what this piece of him was, his soul was like a vast ocean of power anyways, and finding anything specific in it besides the missing piece's place was nigh impossible.

Seeing that she stabilised his soul as much as she could, she removed her paws from him and leaned off him and the bed. She stood above him and examined him more.

'No breathing, no heartbeat, nothing. He seems physically dead… yet his soul indicates otherwise. I should keep an eye on him.' With that, she left her room with him in her bed, and finally returned to the living room. She paced and thought for a moment, before deciding to bring her chair and book into the room with him to watch over him. After using her magic to help her exhausted body lift the chair, she set it down across from him, and with a tired exhale, she let herself sink into it with her book at the ready. Before she reopened to her previous spot, she looked over at the human. Still not breathing, still not moving. Yet at a glance, she could faintly feel his powerful soul's pulse, now that she healed it. She was glad she was as well attuned to healing magic as she was, a lesser healer may have lost themselves in that vast soul.

With a few adjustments of her position, she began her cycle of reading and checking the human's condition every now and then.

/

I can feel myself drifting. I am dreaming again. But this dream has no lit bonfire keeping me under, I can tell. I still feel that pain the flower inflicted. This feels… almost like death. I know very well what that feels like, but this is new… is this some kind of "lesser death?" Is this a precursor to death? If I ever see that flower again, I will be sure to pay it in kind the damage it dealt me, only tenfold. I wonder if it will have a soul, seeing as it could speak and attack… this reminds me… I have not spoken nor have I written in quite a long time. Do I even remember how to do either? Can I still speak after not doing so in so long? I do not know.

...I wonder why I am still sleeping… maybe I am not sleeping, maybe-

-what is this? It feels… warm. Not like a fire, I feel something near me. What is it? And why is the pain going away… this is… pleasant... when was the last time I ever thought of that word? When was the last time I felt this kind of warmth? Never? Before the wars? I cannot remember, but I quite enjoy it. I do not want it to go, but it is leaving me…

Will it come back? I want it to come back. I feel… cold now. Have I always been this cold? I never noticed. When did this happen? How did I not notice? I feel like I always have before, but I am bitingly cold now, in comparison to the warmth… It is not like a bonfire's "warmth" or a fireball's heat, I cannot capably describe it.

...Fireball. I saw the flower get hit with a fireball. Did someone… save me? No, no one saves an undead. We just kill each other. It could not have been an undead. A Keeper? Not likely, not down a mountain far from the kingdom. Is it… the warmth? I hope. But I will not get my hopes up too much. That is always a bad idea.

...I wonder when I will wake from this...

/

Toriel ceased her cycle of regularly checking the human and reading to look at her cellphone's clock and found it was nearly dinner time. She replaced her bookmark, placed the book on her chair, and made to leave the room, before she stopped and looked over her shoulder at the human.

'I hope he will be okay… if he is not, I will not be able to stand failing my one job, not again... I wonder what he thinks of snail pies…' With that, she left the cold, unconscious human to make some dinner.

She even planned made him a portion, in case he woke up.

002


	3. Undead's awakening

003

Toriel had done it again. A big, hot, perfectly made snail pie. After so long making these, she could make them blind-folded with one arm behind her back, and still have them turn out perfect every time. She really hoped the human would enjoy it if he did wake up, he really looked like he needed some food. That got her wondering, though…

'He apparently does not need a heartbeat, breathing, or maybe even food to survive, although I am sure he has never had monster-made food. I bet it will give him a surprise, eating it for the first time. If he wakes up, that is…' She took a pie cutter to the potted confection, making it into perfectly equal sections of eight slices. Once divided up, she placed the pie tin on two plates, with two forks, and brought the dinner to her room.

The human was still unconscious, he had not moved an inch. Sighing, she put the plates, forks, and pie next to her diary on the table, and set to writing while she ate her portion. She wrote about the flower, how she'd encountered the man in the darkness, how she carried him here, healed him… she made sure to get observations in. She excitedly wrote about his soul, its gargantuan size still capable of being felt from across the room. She wrote about his armor, his mask, sword, shield; she was making sure she got everything she knew on him written down.

He was rather special, after all. No other human or monster was quite like this one, and she could be the one to save him.

Penning the date and time at the end of the entry, she flipped to her previous one, the entry being a few jokes she had gotten from her friend from across the Ruins door. She still wondered just who her friend was, but one thing was for sure.

He is quite proficient with skeleton-themed jokes.

Smiling, she closed her diary and stood up. She had already eaten her fill of the pie. She stood from her table and leaned on the bed once more, hopefully putting her hands over the human's still heart to feel his soul once more…

/

...There it is again, this warmth… I need to wake up. I need to know what's happening.

I need…

/

As Toriel viewed his soul, she peered into the center of it again. She was surprised to see the raw edges fading away around the empty section, until nothing separated the large outer soul from the empty inside, yet nothing came in to fill the soul-shaped piece.

Toriel gently lifted her hands from him again and sat in her chair, pondering the oddity of the human as she did. She picked up her book again…

/

The warmth is leaving… then I will follow it.

/

As Toriel opened to her spot, a movement in the corner of her eye caught her rapt attention. His arm was moving slightly. She let her book down to her lap and stared. The human's arm stopped moving, and then his hand clenched and unclenched, before lifting to his face to stroke across it, as if he were wiping sleep from his eyes. The pale man then sat up against the bed's backboard and looked around the room, spotting Toriel to his left. She gave him a warm and welcoming smile, her book still open, face down on her lap.

"Hello, human. I am Toriel. Welcome to my home."

The man stared, slightly agape.

"May I ask… what is your name?" She scooted her chair a little bit forward, trying to encourage the man to speak to her.

"..." He simply blinked at Toriel, then felt at his throat and looked at the floorboards before he looked back up at her. "...I…"

As he was about to speak, Toriel slightly leaned forward, still giving off her warm smile.

"Do… not… know." His voice was horribly hoarse and rasped out, and sounded breathless. Worse yet…

Toriel's smile drooped a bit. 'Just how horrible were this human's living conditions? He wears layers of armor, is thin to the bone, practically dead, and he does not even know his own name.'

Toriel cocked her head a little, before asking: "Do you call yourself anything?" A head shake was all she got in response.

Her smile all but vanished, and was soon replaced with a look of concern and intrigue. "That is terrible… you do not have a name… I need to ask you some other questions, is that alright by you?" The man looked reserved at that, before giving a nod as consent. "Alright. I have to ask you why… you are not alive, yet you are still… alive. Alright, admittedly that sounds strange, but… your heart is not beating, and you are not breathing… how?"

"...Undead."

Her brow quirked. "Undead? What do you…" Before she could finish, the man pulled down his shirt's loose collar, revealing his chest and where his heart would be. A large circle shaped scar sat right over where his heart is.

Toriel looked on in horror, her hands quivered, and her book fell to the floor. It looked like something had been ripped right out of his chest, the scar reminded her of something being pulled or broken out of a container. She stood from her chair and carefully approached the man. He eyed her before laying back against the backboard, and he let her examine the scar. She lightly touched it, tracing the outside. The skin was raised, like a hot brand had been pressed into him. Looking closer, she noticed a small, upside down combined "X/Y" in the very center of the scar, burned into him.

Looking him in the eyes, causing him to look away, she asked: "What did this to you?"

/

He couldn't remember. That was too far back for him to recall. He put aside the question and instead thought of her as her hand rested over his heart. She was the warmth. She had saved him from the flower, and brought him here. Was she… a friend? He considered a few people friends, but they had not done such a thing for him. One of them even made it a point to bushwhack him on numerous occasions, often killing him. Were they really friends? Compared to this… woman? Just what is she, anyways? She looks like a… goat? A goat-woman? He had never seen anything like her. And she has a name.

Toriel.

She was still hovering over him, expecting an answer. He needed to speak again. It hurt speaking again, he had not spoke, or needed to speak, in quite some time.

"Do not… remember."

The answer, even if similar to the one about his name, was enough for her to increase the distance between them.

"What do you remember?"

He remembers many things, just… not the things he wanted. He decided to list off the things he knew most, in broad categories. "Fighting… pain… d-death. Hundreds… years, time… broken. Life… broken." He could tell his choppy and muted speech was hard for her to follow, but she seemed to get the gist of what he was saying.

He doesn't lead a… "pleasant" existence. Toriel's face fell more to sadness as he listed off. But he wasn't done. He looked around, the room, and kept going. "No home… no name." He put his hand over his Death Mark, right on the center sigil. "...Have... no soul, hollow. Not human. Undead." He could see tears welling up around her eyes, but the part involving souls caught her attention.

She pointed to his chest with a finger, her other arm wrapping around her body. "But you have a soul, I saw it when I healed you. It is powerful, unlike any other."

He looked up at the ceiling, and laid his head back. "Not… wholly undead. Not... wholly... human, in-between… at least...until… I die… again." She healed him? That must have been the first time he felt the warmth. He had to give her thanks for all she's done. But before he could speak, she did.

"You have died before? How is that possible?"

He let out a thoughtful groan at that. He knew bonfires had something to do with it, dreams as well. "The fires… rebirth, after death… as undead. I have… died… hundred… two hundred times? Not sure." Toriel turned away and shook her head at that, he saw a tear roll down before she was turned around all the way. While turned, she choked out her next sentence, a simple one.

One the undead had not heard in what felt like a thousand years.

"I… I am sorry." She confused him with the apology.

"...Why?"

She faced him again after wiping her face with her sleeve. "I… I do not know. What has become of your world? The surface? How... why has this happened to you?" This is a difficult one.

"...Surface…? Dead. Gray. Kingdom... fallen. Everyone... undead, beast, or… gone." Toriel looked like she needed to sit, so she did. She rested her head on her hand, propping herself up.

"I… cannot believe it. The entire surface world… is dead?" He gave her a simple nod.

"How… how could this have happened? How long?"

"Not sure, time is… wrong, convoluted. Everlasting days. Hundreds of years." He could feel his throat and voice getting much better with the restarted use, this was good.

She shook her head again, and leaned into her chair. She looked like she couldn't take that anymore. "I am sorry, but… I cannot listen to that anymore…"

"It is… alright." The undead was feeling able now, so he sat up on the edge of the bed, cloth wrapped feet planted on the homely wooden floorboards. "...Thank you." This drew Toriel's attention again, and she looked to him. Seeing this, he kept going. "Thank you for saving me, healing me…" For some reason, he could not look at her directly. He knew she was staring, but he couldn't bring himself to look back.

A slight smile came back to her. "Oh, it is my job to look after the humans who fall down here… or… it used to be. I always wondered why no one ever fell down for such a long time after the last one, and now I know. I suppose that means my being here on my own is almost pointless now…"

The undead finally managed to look up at Toriel. "Almost?"

"Hm? Oh, yes. I still have you to look after. Unless you think any other-"

"No. No... others... will come. They are all too busy fighting, but I explore, move around. Most undead stay put. Many give up."

She looked a little surprised at the brevity and clarity in which he made sure to speak in. "Alright, if you say so. Oh! I just remembered, I made you something while you were unconscious…" The undead watched as she went to the table at the foot of the bed and retrieved a plate. She huffed, before looking at him apologetically.

"It went cold, let me reheat it…" The undead watched in wonder as she summoned up small fireballs and moved them around whatever was on the plate. He had never seen someone control fire as well as she was, fire magic was notoriously dangerous thanks to its ties to chaos, yet Toriel controlled it like it was second nature.

"Aaaand… done. Here you go, one now-piping-hot slice of my favorite dish… snail pie!" She handed it to the undead, who took the plate and fork and examined the slice. It looked just fine, but he had not eaten in centuries, not that he ever had the urge to.

He continued to eye the dish, feeling Toriel was watching him, an expectant smile growing on her face. "I… have not eaten in quite a long time…"

"Do not worry, it is monster-made food. As soon as you eat it, it absorbs into you. Not like human food, where it has to go through you to get absorbed in. Give it a try, please? I do not believe being that thinned is good for you, even if you may have no need to eat."

"...Alright." He gave in to her polite request easily. Using the fork, he cut a piece of the pie and, for the first time in hundreds of years, ate something. The taste wasn't anything special or terrible, but it did have a flavor to it. Once he chewed the piece, he reflexively made to swallow it, and was surprised when the piece seemed to dissipate inside his mouth and flow into him from every direction. The feeling he got from eating the pie was indescribable, but he knew one thing for certain.

"This is great…" He heartily dug into the pie, and was all the more unaware as Toriel happily watched on, before she collected her book from the floor and then sit back in her chair. She was glad he was eating, he really looked like he needed the nutrition, even if he was an "undead." He had devoured the remaining pie she had not eaten like he truly was feeling his hunger now, and the plate sat empty in his lap, the fork having experienced its most intense battle with food in quite a while. As the human stood to place the plate back on the table, he noticed something piled into the corner of the room.

His armor, shield, all his gear… He had only just now fully realized he was not wearing them. He wondered why he was feeling so light... and semi-naked, since he was so used to being fully shelled in steel after so long. After placing his plate next to Toriel's, he saw her looking up at him. He felt a bit uncomfortable, not having his steel.

"...May I put my armor back on? I feel…" 'Hold on… where is my…' He gave her an inquisitive look, now that he noticed something was awry. "...Sword?" He noticed a distinct lack of his favorite blade in the pile of gear, and he wouldn't like to lose it. He did have to fight an angry Drake over it, after all.

A sudden look of recollection overcame Toriel. "Oh! Your sword! I had to leave it back by where the flower was. I had to carry you all the way here, and that sword would have been a bit too much to carry along with you… I am sorry. And yes, if you would like to wear your armor, you do not have to ask my permission, I just needed to be able to heal you." She looked truly apologetic to him, and he could tell she was honest.

He had gotten quite good at spotting liars, even ones who wear helmets. Body language and stance told a lot about his foes and peers, and Toriel didn't seem like she had a dishonest bone in her body.

He gave her a nod. "Thank you. I would like to go retrieve my blade after I re-armor, I had to go through quite a bit to get it in the first place."

With an understanding smile, Toriel stood to leave the room, setting her book on her table, next to her diary then she took the dishware and empty pie tin. As she passed by him, the undead noticed he was well over a head taller than her in height. He wondered if he intimidated Toriel, if he did, she didn't show it. As she left, he pondered more on these seemingly useless observations. He never made them before, he really wasn't used to being able to make small, benign observations about others like that, he was more used to searching for a weakness or exploitable flaw mid-fight, and at most recognising ill intent before it broke out.

He felt different, almost like… his very soul itself was… cleaner. If that was even possible, but he could feel like something that had been long barring his mind was lifted. He never felt like this out of sleep. What had she done to heal him? That warm feeling must have done something drastic, if it unlocked his mind in waking. Before he got to his armor, he gave the room another look over, his waking mind perceiving things with a clarity he hadn't had in far longer than he'd like to admit.

He saw a strange, potted plant next to the bed, and next to that, a bookshelf crammed with volumes. Next to that, a dresser… and above that…

He approached the dresser, and he saw himself in a wide mirror. He took himself in, he had not seen his own face in so long. Turning away, he brought his attention to the armor and gear. He knew this armor inside and out, except for…

'My mask… I have not seen its face either…' He picked up the face-down piece of steel, and turned it over. The mask's unsettling visage stared back, and he began to question why he chose to wear it. If he recalled, it was magical in nature, granting him the energy of a younger person. He began to wonder if it was worth it, trodding about wearing something so ghastly. He looked to his steel armor, and began to question it too. Its large and imposing frame, incredibly thick plates, large shoulder pieces… if creatures down here were as avid in magic as he was being lead to believe, with that flower nearly killing him, he'd need more magic resistant equipment.

And he knew he had a set in his box that fulfilled the less cumbersome armor style and greater magical protection he now wanted.

He pieced the steel armor set back together, and shoved it, the mask, and the chainmail into the box. Reaching back in, he grasped a long, gray cloak and hood…

003


	4. Calm

004

With a final adjustment of his hood, the Undead now donned a set of armor he had long envied, but never had the chance or necessity to wear.

The armor of the King's royal guard, the Silver Knights.

The armor's flowing designs, shining silver-coated steel, and a matching gray cloak and hood loaned to its heroic design. The undead's mind tickled while he looked at himself in the mirror. He remembered seeing these knights for the first time. They were stationed solely at the now derelict castle of his homeland, and even to this day the knights stand to protect it, and their enchanted silver-coated steel plate armor shines just as bright as it always has, but the men inside have gone hollow.

Now they don't know why they protect their post, they have long since lost the meaning of it.

He hadn't worn this set for a few reasons, namely due to the fact that the steel is far thinner than the steel armor he wore before. That armor was used by the Vanguards, front-line grunts who wield heavy greatswords and clash head-on in the skirmish before anyone else did, and its protections reflected that. Nigh impenetrable by normal weapons, incredibly heavy, and terrible at stopping magic. The silver knight armor was far lighter, less physically protective (But still very formidable, no normal knight's gear could stack up to a silver knight's.) and far more magically negating. To complement this new set, he stowed his old shield and now wielded the one made to go with this set, and it held the armor's design ideals just as steadfast. He would have used one of their swords as well, if he wasn't a total fanatic for his claymore.

Why did he have all these armors and not wear them? Because undead like him are generally kleptomaniacal, and wish to hold onto as much of the past as possible so that they can keep their minds together. A rather quixotic idea if it's the soul that dictates the mind's integrity, not memories, if Toriel's healing is anything to go by. He felt like he was remembering more with every passing minute, but his name was still lost. He could recall an "L" in there, somewhere…

He made sure to keep trying at it, he needed his name back.

After a check in Toriel's mirror and a reattachment of his box and other supplies to the armor's belt, he left Toriel's room. He had to duck a little to get out, and the cloak swept against the door frame. The ornate boots clacked lightly on the wooden floorboards as he searched the cozy house for Toriel, finding her in the kitchen, just finishing up with the few dishes they had used.

Her back was turned, so he decided to announce himself.

"Ah… excuse me, Toriel-"

"Hmm…?" She looked over her shoulder at him, and noticed his new armor. She put the dish away before turning to face him fully to inspect his new attire. "That is… different. Um… I like how it looks, but where did you get it from? And where did you put the other armor?" She truthfully liked this armor more than what he had before, it had a much more aesthetically pleasing appearance and an all around different presence. The cloak was a nice touch too. Not to mention he no longer wore that strange mask.

In response, the Undead moved his cloak and pointed to the box attached to his belt. "My bottomless box, it is a magical container that contains a limitless number of items, small enough to transport but capable of swallowing up whole sets of armor, one of my long-time tools."

Toriel looked almost disbelieving at that, monsters had something similar to this, except it was far more limited, she had never thought the humans would be the ones to master a magic that allowed them to carry infinite amounts of objects.

"How is it that humans have magic that powerful? When our kind last fully met, it took all of your best magicians to seal us away, and even then it nearly killed them… to be able to carry anything, without limit…"

Something Toriel said confused the Undead. "Our kind? I am still not quite sure just what you are, yet you seem to know quite a lot about humans, albeit with rather dated information."

Toriel gave him a distraught look. "That means humans must have forgotten about our war, and some time after the seventh…"

The mention of a war called back to his earlier dreamings, he was interested now. "War? We warred with your kind?"

Toriel nodded in affirmation. "Yes, long ago, when both our civilizations were young… come, sit with me, human. I still feel like there is quite a bit to explain to each other." She left the kitchen for her living room table, taking her seat closest to the door, and the Undead, having followed her, sat across from her.

The Undead drummed his hands, and gave her an expectant look. "If you could start from the beginning or as far back as you remember, I bet we could piece this together."

"Yes, I feel like we need to share more of what has happened, since our people have been separated so long. Long ago, certainly long before you were born, my ex-husband and I, Asgore Dreemurr, ruled over our kind's kingdom together, that being the Kingdom of Monsters. The humans had a similar system back then, king-like leaders and small societies. For a while, we both lived on the surface in peace, coexisting. Out of nowhere, the humans began to fear and hate us. They learned that all monsters have the ability to absorb human souls and become far more powerful by doing so. They must have felt threatened, and preemptively started a war to seal us away. Countless monsters died, and not one human fell. Then, like I mentioned earlier, all their greatest magicians nearly gave their lives sealing us away down here. The rest of the monsters live deeper into the Underground. I isolated myself here to act as a safeguard for humans who fall in, to protect them from the others."

The Undead sat quietly, listening well, before he had to ask a question. "You say we slaughtered countless monsters and none of us fell, how?"

Toriel had an uneasy look at this question, she knew she was about to reveal to him just how powerful he was down here. "Ah… well, the thing about that is, erm… truthfully… monsters are comprised namely of magic, while humans are nearly all physical. It would not take much at all for a human to kill one of us, even the younger inexperienced human warriors could take on numerous numbers of our best fighters. Another thing plays into this, souls."

That piqued the Undead's interest.

"A human's soul is… great, to say the least. One child's soul is equivalent in power to all the souls of all the monsters who inhabit the Underground. A human soul is much more powerful than any monster's. And this is rather… frightening… to me, because your soul is staggering. I do not quite know how, but your soul feels like it is comprised of-"

"-Countless souls of other undead humans, demons, a few dragons…" The undead finished that little thought for her, and it nearly made her jaw drop. She felt something off about his soul before, but she wasn't expecting it on that scale.

"W-what? How?"

"On the surface, "life" is not life. It is a struggle. That mark I showed you earlier brands much of humanity. It denotes that we are cursed with the undead's immortality and constant hunger for souls and the humanity of fellow humans and undead, thanks to numerous deaths and rebirths. When I kill something, or something dies near me, my mark may allow me to absorb the soul and add it to a kind of "soul-storage" within me. I can then use those free-floating souls to do a few things… most prevalent of which, increasing the power of my own soul directly, or using them for trade. Souls are a currency in the land above, and killing is the only way to live. What single pieces you value so preciously, we use by the hundreds above. And they never stop coming, when we die, our soul is not simply ripped out, it is remade when we are reborn from bonfires, by our "Humanity". That is why the absolute bottom of the barrel is a "hollow", they have died to the point that they have even had the last of their humanity taken. These are the ones who give up, and usually become insane, feral mon-" He caught himself at that, after all, he was in the presence of an ACTUAL monster. "Er… creature."

While the Undead was speaking, he had his eyes turned down, he didn't catch Toriel's eyes welling up once more. She was horrified now. This man, and by the sounds of it, nearly all of humankind, existed only to destroy one another. Human souls, precious, rare, and sought after by monster kind, were nothing more than coins in their pockets, to be used, gained, and traded with.

She was almost becoming sick.

"How can you bring yourself to kill your fellow man…?"

"...It stopped being "fellow man" and became "other undead" long ago. I am most likely the most mentally pieced-together undead there is, thanks to you and how well I have done for myself in the violent system of kill-or-be-killed that overtook us long ago. We have no choice. Many have no reason. Even more have no goal. And a far greater number have no humanity, no drive or determination that gives them a purpose to exist. Like I said before, those who do not participate will eventually die to something and go insane, or fade away after they are eaten up by the nearest killer… and when I say "I have done well", I do not mean that I seek out the weak, like many others do. I have traveled the remains of the kingdom and taken on beings with souls and bodies far more powerful than mine, and won on quite a few of those occasions. I have even defeated the hollowed king himself, and that was no easy task." He looked back up, and could see the sheer sadness reflecting off Toriel's tears as they ran free, he could tell the world above was unlike anything she could comprehend.

With a wipe of her sleeve, she had to keep on topic. "Well… if that is the surface as it is today, then Asgore's plans are totally moot. Of the seven humans who came before you, he has the souls of six. He planned long ago to use them to break the barrier that keeps us here, but I doubt even having that many will be enough against what you described is happening above… maybe it would be best if we stayed down here, the surface sounded terrible before, but after what you have made clear, it sounds totally uninhabitable by monsters…"

The Undead looked back down to the table, he couldn't look Toriel in the eye any more. All he felt was guilt for being a part of the world above when he saw the sadness and heartache radiating from her.

She wanted more answers, even though hearing them hurt. "It just terrifies me how this happened so abruptly, in between the seventh human and you, things on the surface went wrong, horribly wrong… do you remember what life was like before?"

"Barely. I remember the panic that occurred as things came to a boiling point, we had two wars where we tried to fight off the ensuing chaos, and one long into the chaos. That means the three before the fourth go like this: The war against Monsters, the war against the mounting undead threat, and the war against the giants. The forces of chaos are strong above, and new species arose rapidly. Demons, dragons, the giants, all of them came as if from nowhere. Then one final war. I mentioned earlier that the days are eternal, and everlasting. That is partially true. The nightmare above only got worse once night finally arrived, hundreds of years into the chaos. Chaos had affected more than just the surface, it stretched to the moon above... an entity of pure evil, a presence that corrupted. It forced night upon us all, and the undead became… infected, with more than just the Death Mark. They twisted, broke, snapped and reformed into beasts. That was where the whole of existence changed for us, now, certain beings had warm blood again, horrific new life sprung forth, and the corruption changed the Death Marks to encourage us to hunt the beasts down. Both souls and blood came into the equation, both used for similar purposes. I personally call it my own war, I was the one who ended the night, I fought the presence and won. Now, an everlasting sunrise breaks over the horizon. Beasts are still around, and now those who went unchanged have more ways to exploit the demons, beasts, and dragons. They are getting rarer though, the beasts are dying out rapidly, and the demons and dragons are far stronger than twisted, warm undead."

After the "catching up," the human and Toriel sat in a silence pregnant with awkwardness. Toriel felt uncomfortable. Her job was to stop Asgore from reaching the surface and protecting the humans, but she now knew that humanity and the surface are totally lost causes. Knowing that made her feel… claustrophobic, for once in quite a while. She felt as if her isolation no longer had a purpose.

"As selfish as it is, I would… like to go get my blade back now… if that is permissible by you, Toriel?"

She looked up at him, the tears dry now. "You do not have to ask for my permission, you are not a child, human. But I would prefer to go with you, the ruins are a bit confusing at first, and it is still my job to watch over you." She stood with a shaky breath and waited for the armored man to do the same before she opened her home's door for him, magically shutting off the lights and then closing the door behind her.

She took the lead, and he followed. His metallic boots clacked against the odd purple bricks of the Ruins, and every now and then he'd crunch an auburn leaf underfoot. He felt his mind being weighed by guilt, he needed to get it off his chest.

"... I am sorry, Toriel."

Toriel slowed down to look back at him, but she kept walking. "For what?"

As he walked slower, the Undead reached up to throw his cloak's hood over his head, for whatever reason he still couldn't bring himself to look Toriel in the face, he felt like he just didn't deserve to. Like she was better than him, like he was less. All in light of the difference of their worlds and lives…

"I am unsure, I feel terrible for… just being me. For being "Human," because the way you reacted to my existence above makes me feel like living down here is far better than being up there…"

She looked ahead, and quietly said her next piece. "You should not feel bad for being you, as long as you are honest with yourself. Like you said earlier, you had no choice in the matters you dealt with."

They came to the spiked bridge puzzle. This one was a pain for Toriel on her way back home with the human. He was right behind her, waiting to go, when on some odd instinct, she reached back and grasped his gauntleted hand…

Both of them became aware of what was happening immediately, Toriel's face flushed red, the Undead became incredibly confused, and Toriel jerked her hand from his, giving a little cough and hiding her face from him. She started to briskly walk the path, and the Undead had to lurch forward a little to keep up with her quick walk around the spiked pathway. They were on the other side in no time, and the Undead wanted to ask what that was about, but Toriel kept moving forward without a word, and he stood for a few moments, looking down at the hand she had held.

In that short moment their hands were connected, he could feel her warmth even through his metal gauntlet, and after his hand felt like it was freezing cold for a short while before he got used to it once more. Were the living just that warm? Or was he just that cold?

He saw her round a corner ahead, and he jogged to catch up to her. Ducking through yet another doorway, he saw her enter the archway ahead. He decided to skip the stairs and jump right down to the lower level to keep up, his hood falling back as he fell. This archway led him to the place he'd been in earlier with the flower, a ray of light still shining in the center of the area; the flower was nowhere to be seen.

He saw Toriel standing in the light, looking off into the dark where the flower had been launched, waiting for the Undead to get his sword. She was trying to avoid any eye contact with him harder than he had been earlier. He made for the doorway and immediately saw his claymore lying on the dirt in the near pitch-black archway. Picking it up, he noticed the tip had quite a bit of dirt caked on it, he had jammed it down after all. He turned around towards the light after cleaning and sheathing the blade, and froze. He and Toriel had both looked at the same time, and made solidly caught each other's gaze.

For a while, the two just stood and stared at one another, as they stood at the border between their respective worlds; one dark, wreathed in guilt, blood and death, the other light, innocent, hopeful and waiting for life to get better.

And that applied to the two individuals, as well as the worlds they lived in.

004


	5. Be kind, move on

A/N: Chapter 5, and already at over 1000 views! I'm glad this story is doing so well, and I'm glad people are enjoying it! Reading reviews helps push me forward quite a lot, just seeing a new review gets me in the mood to write. If you have questions, comments, or need clarifications about the story, feel free to leave a review or PM me, and I'll answer it to as reasonable an extent a writer should without spoiling things.

005

Toriel and the Undead stood staring for some time, neither quite daring to break the gaze. While they were looking, both were making observations about the other they hadn't quite felt necessary to, at least earlier anyways.

Her sheer patience and kindness, it made everyone in his past seem distant and sour.

His staggering strength, she knew no monster in these caverns could slow him, not even the whole of the Royal Guard.

The way the light shone down upon her as if in purity, the appearance of her deep red eyes and blue robes, her unblemished ivory horns and pure-white fur, to him, she looked like an endearing and angelic guardian with only the best of intentions.

The way the dark shrouded him in mystery, the appearance of his silvery-steel armor and weapon, his intense physical presence and confident posture, to her, he looked like a knight who who had his metal truly tested.

The way she saved him and welcomed him into her very home. From what she had told him, he doubted any other monster would have the selflessness to take in someone like him in, if they all wanted his soul for their own purposes.

The way he was gentle and held back even though he had the capability to end everyone now that he had his blade back. From what the he had told her, she doubted that any other human would have the heart to not abuse their power.

Both fully realised they were in the presence of a uniquity from the other's world. Both became self-conscious quickly and finally looked away, Toriel's face and very fur warming in embarrassment, and the Undead drew his hood back over his face, feeling like he shouldn't even be looking at someone who was practically royalty.

The Undead absent-mindedly adjusted his armor's equipment belt to better accommodate the replaced sword, before he breaking the silence. "…Anyways, thank you for guiding me through the Ruins, Toriel. I feel like I may have overstayed my welcome in your home and I will most likely move on deeper into the Underground. I am an explorer, after all."

Toriel still looked back into the dark, at nothing in general. "...The way through the Ruins is actually through my house. And you have not overstayed your welcome at all, it is my job to look after fallen humans, no matter how long it takes."

"Ah, shall we be going back then?"

"Yes, let us return." Toriel followed this up by letting the human take the lead through the Ruin's entry areas. When they made it to the button puzzle, Toriel signaled to the man to wait. She reset the puzzle then input the one combo she had never used on it.

The permanent failure-state combo, which would lock the ruins for good once a switch on the other side was flipped.

Once she and the Undead were through, she flipped the switch and the door shut for the last time. As they made their way through the Ruins and back to her house, Toriel reset all the traps like this, using failure combos and hidden switches that would prevent anyone from coming through here. The Undead was none the wiser, he only assumed she was resetting the traps. The monsters in the area got the idea though, and made for their own exits from the ruins. Froggits swam under the spike bridge into a broken grate, Loox found their exit only their special eyes let them see, and the Napstablook just lay on the ground near the spider bake sale. He was a ghost, after all.

Halfway through, a group of the monsters made to approach the duo, but Toriel gave them an "I'm not in the mood" glare, and they too made swift egress. After they left, she turned to the human. "I need to tell you something. Not all monsters are highly... intelligent... but they are still apart of our people. Most are just troubled teenagers or are just simpler of mind. If they attack you, please, do not hurt them. I doubt the weaker ones could even put a scratch to your soul anyways, now that it is most likely acclimated to being damaged directly. But if you must defend yourself, try to do so with your words or intimidation. And with your power and armament, I doubt any normal monster would willingly pick a fight with you in the first place. Please... be kind to them, for me?"

The human was silent for a few seconds as he fiddled with his claymore's pommel tassle, which was actually an incredibly powerful talisman he had found in the King's ruined castle. "...It goes counter to what I have learned the past hundreds of years, but if they are just innocents I promise I will do my best not hurt them, as you ask."

She gave the human a smile, even though he wasn't looking. He was proving himself to be a good individual so far. "Thank you, it means a lot to me. Most monsters assume humans are terrible people because of the war… and now that they really are, I hope you can show people there is at least one good human amongst us."

Even though he knew he had done terrible things in the past, the Undead knew he actually had a chance to make a good impression with the people of this land, and he wouldn't let it go to waste.

And being called "good" by Toriel brought that warmth back to him. He rather enjoyed that feeling.

After the incident, they had returned to making their way through the Ruins. As they went, the undead felt he needed to ask Toriel a few questions he had cooking up since their conversation at her table.

"Toriel, if I may ask a question, you mentioned your ex-husband, the king. What is he like?"

From her body language towards that question, the undead could tell she felt strongly a certain way about him. "He is a bit of a fool in a few ways. His "great plan" for some time now has been to use seven human souls to break the barrier that seals us here so our kind can return to the surface, and then he will declare war on humanity. Obviously, that plan is not going to work now. He is also rather… soft… for a king."

"Why did you leave him?"

Toriel tensed up even more at that. "...That is not something I wish to talk about."

The undead felt terrible now, had he pressed to hard? "I… apologize if I have offended you, Toriel. I will not ask too much about your personal life then."

She loosened up at the apology. "No, it is just… I… something happened, that is all. I have no issues telling you about myself, but that topic is too painful." She noticed the next archway lead to her home. "We are here."

Once the two were inside, Toriel beckoned to the stairs just in front of the door, leading down to the "basement." The undead went down the stairs first, the wood straining under his weight, and Toriel followed, the wood barely making a creak. The two were now in the long hallway and the undead turned to Toriel looking for confirmation to head onward, and she gave a confirmatory nod. The two continued on for some time, the long hallway echoing with the Undead's clanking and rattling armor, easily muting Toriel's padding footsteps.

Finally the two came to the exit of the ruins, a pair of double doors large enough for even the Undead to comfortably pass through. He stood before them, and Toriel stood behind him at the hallway's end. He pressed his hands to the stone doors and looked up, seeing the same rune on them as the one featured on Toriel's robe. With a push, they opened easily thanks to his strength. A gust of freezing wind rushed into the hallway, and the undead's cloak fluttered. Toriel shielded herself from the cold by crossing her arms.

The undead turned and gave Toriel a final look, and then he made to step out into the cold ahead.

"...Wait."

The Undead looked back at her and saw that she was walking from the hall's end towards him. "I am going with you."

"Why?"

She gave him a look that showed some of her inner sadness. "I do not have a purpose to be alone out here anymore, and humankind is lost. After I thought about it, I must make sure Asgore does not try to break the barrier, now that I have sealed the Ruins as tight as I could have. The traps are now set to never be solved, the doors will never be opened. We need to make sure what is above never makes it down here for everyone's safety."

At this, the Undead nodded. "That would be best. I am unsure if the corruptions above can spread to monsterkind, but I do not want to see chances taken, nor do I want to see what the other undead, demons, or whatever else is above are willing to do." He looked out towards the dim, snowy subterranean forest ahead. "It looks like I have got a goal then."

He made to leave, when Toriel interrupted him. "...You would not happen to have a spare cloak in your box, would you?" She lit a few magical fires around herself to keep herself warm while she magically shut and re-sealed the Ruins exit behind themselves, and the Undead unhooked his box, opened it up, and rooted around for a spare set of beast hunter's garb. He grabbed a particular cloak that he had found in a hunter's base. Thankfully (and almost as if by some miracle, considering the brutal work hunters are known for) it was free of any blood. It was also large and made of good material, it would easily keep the cold at bay. He took the cloak from his box, then shut and rehooked it onto his belt.

Once he handed it to Toriel, she slipped the black clothing over her blue robe, fastened the front, and pulled the hood over her head, accidentally poking through it with her horns. She looked apologetically at him, a slight smile cracking at the ridiculousness of it. He gave a smile back, and told her: "Do not worry about it."

Yet another first for him, a smile…

With the cold dealt with, the two began to walk into the woods ahead, staying on the path. As they walked, the Undead was looking around the trees, accidentally snapping a branch under his heavy boot, the snap echoing for what seemed forever.

'I swear, something is following us. I know when suspicion is due, and it is definitely due now…'

He let Toriel walk closer, before he tried to speak to her quietly. "I believe we are either being watched or followed. Keep moving, but stay vigilant, if you see something, tell me." She looked worried, but nodded anyways. The two continued to forge ahead, the feeling of being followed increasing. They saw a small footbridge with a poorly designed gate ahead. As they were about to cross it, a sound from behind them caught the Undead's attention.

Footsteps.

With agility not befitting one in full-armor-bar-the-helmet, the Undead put himself between Toriel and the noise, drew his claymore, and was in preparatory stance in seconds. The thing he had drew his sword on stood before him, and it was a…

Short skeleton with a strange blue cloak? The Undead had dealt with reanimated skeletons before, most were not pleasant in the slightest. Bone wheels…

The skeleton pulled his boney hands from his pockets and held them up, a sign of surrender. "whoa there buddy, put the big sword away, just seeing who you are, since you guys just came from the Ruins…" His white and dotlike "eyes" were focused on the point of the blade, unwaveringly hung in the cold air before him, when a sudden gasp of realization from behind the blade's wielder caught his attention.

Toriel pushed the Undead's blade away from the skeleton and stood in front of the Undead, looking at the skeleton. "I know your voice, you are my friend from this side of the door!" She was obviously very excited to see the skeleton, but…

The Undead sheathed his blade and questioningly looked at the two. "You two… know each other?"

The skeleton suddenly figured out what was happening. "yeah, you're the lady from the other side. how ya doing?" He had relaxed quite visibly and his hands were already back in his pockets, before he pulled them out again and held on out for Toriel to shake. She unflinchingly did so, and then a sudden "Pffffffffft" sounded out.

"heheh, the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick, it's always funny. i'm sans, sans the skeleton."

Toriel was laughing in hilarity at the prank, and kept shaking his hand. "I am Toriel, it is a pleasure to finally meet you!" Once the introductions were done, she finally let go of his hand and stepped back, the further confused undead and skeleton now face to face again.

"so, this guy must be a human huh? and friend of yours? he should really watch where he points that thing. actually kinda funny, since i'm supposed to be on the lookout for humans."

At this, the Undead's eyes narrowed. One of Asgore's...? In response, the skeleton further elaborated, not seeming intimidated at all. "you know… since i don't actually care about capturing anybody. but my brother papyrus is a whole other story."

The Undead looked to Toriel. "I am still in the dark here, how do you two know each other?"

Toriel was still cheery from finally meeting her friend. "We have been talking through the Ruins' door for a while now. We like to share jokes quite often."

Understanding, the Undead relaxed a bit. "Ah, well a friend of Toriel's should be a friend of mine. I apologize for drawing my blade on you, Sans. You see, It is not often that someone sneaking up behind me unannounced ever goes in my favor."

Somehow, the skeleton managed to wink at him. "nah, i get it. i'll make sure to tone down the pranks and stuff like that near ya, you seem like a jumpy guy. put 'er there." He held out his hand for the Undead to shake, which he heartily did for the shorter skeleton. True to his word, no hand-borne pranks were issued. After the shake, the skeleton's hands went right back into his pockets.

"I would tell you my name, but I do not remember it, no disrespect intended friend."

"what, got amnesia or something like that?"

"...It is a bit more complex than amnesia."

Sans merely shrugged at the elaboration. "eh, sounds like a personal issue. anyways, what brings you two out here?"

Toriel was the one to answer him. "Well, the human here is an adventurer, and I am on my way to see the king on something of dire importance, so we have decided to travel as a pair."

At she said that, Sans' eye sockets seemed to narrow in amusement, causing Toriel to go red. "N-not that kind of pair, Sans!"

"heheheh, don't worry about it tori, i get it." The Undead swore he saw even more amusement on the skeleton's "face," which caused Toriel to huff and pull her cloak tighter.

Sans shrugged once more before continuing. "anywho, i gotta get back to my post. papyrus usually comes around at this time, and he really doesn't like it when i'm not there. we should mess with him, come on." He walked around the duo and over the bridge, Toriel following in front of the undead, him being last.

He actually had some trouble fitting through the odd gate-thing over the bridge.

They came to an expansion in the woods, featuring two statues and a wooden guard post.

Suddenly, sans spoke out. "quick, behind those conveniently-shaped statues."

Sans stood there innocently while Toriel and the undead got behind two statues pointlessly standing in the middle of the expansion. Toriel's was ironically shaped like a large queen chess piece, while the undead's was unironically a stoney monster-knight.

A tall skeleton rushed into the expansion, sporting what looked like armor and a small red cape.

Sans greeted him lazily with a quick "sup, bro?"

" **YOU KNOW WHAT "SUP", BROTHER. IT'S BEEN EIGHT DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T RECALIBRATED. YOUR. PUZZLES. YOU JUST HANG AROUND OUTSIDE YOUR STATION! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING ?!**

"staring at these statues. they're really cool. do you wanna look?"

The tall skeleton man, presumably "Papyrus," started stomping his red-booted feet. **"NO! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT! WHAT IF A HUMAN COMES THROUGH HERE!? I WANT TO BE READY! I WILL BE THE ONE! I MUST BE THE ONE! I WILL CAPTURE A HUMAN!"** Papyrus then stood at just the right angle with the wind to make his cape flutter, then struck a heroic pose. **"THEN, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL GET ALL THE THINGS I UTTERLY DESERVE! RESPECT… RECOGNITION… I WILL FINALLY BE ABLE TO JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD! PEOPLE WILL ASK, TO, BE MY, "FRIEND?" I WILL BATHE IN A SHOWER OF KISSES EVERY MORNING."**

"hmm. maybe these statues will help you." The undead started to get uncomfortable behind his masonry. What was Sans doing?!

" **SANS! YOU ARE NOT HELPING! YOU LAZYBONES! ALL YOU DO IS SIT AROUND AND BOONDOGGLE! YOU GET LAZIER AND LAZIER EVERY DAY!"**

"hey, take it easy. i've gotten a ton of work done today. a skele-ton." A barely held-in snicker came from behind the queen statue.

" **SANS!"**

"come on. you're smiling."

" **I AM AND I HATE IT. SIGH… WHY DOES SOMEONE AS GREAT AS ME HAVE TO DO SO MUCH TO GET RECOGNITION…"**

"wow, sounds like you're really working yourself… down to the bone." Hardly suppressed laughing uttered out of the queen statue...

" **UGH! I WILL ATTEND TO MY PUZZLES… AS FOR YOU WORK? PUT A LITTLE MORE… BACKBONE INTO IT! NYEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH!"** Papyrus started back down the path he came, before turning back around and giving one final **"HEH!"** and walking off.

Sans looked to the statues. "ok, you two can come out now." The two finally stepped out from behind the statues, letting their cloaks free. They had been holding them to stop them from catching the wing and giving them away.

"you two oughta get going. he might come back. And if he does… you'll have to sit through more of my hilarious jokes."

Toriel actually looked like she would have enjoyed that, but she resisted taking him up on that offer. "Thank you, Sans. We must be going now, though."

Just as they were about the leave, Sans called out to them.

"actually, hey… hate to bother ya, but can you two do me a favor? i was thinking… my brother's been kind of down lately, he's never seen a human before. and seeing the big guy here might just make my bro's day. don't worry, he's not dangerous even if he tries to be."

The duo looked between themselves before they silently agreed on it.

"A favor for a friend is fine by me." The Undead decided Sans was an amiable enough fellow, if not a bit odd. He had never seen his style of clothing before, and both his and his brother's speech were… quite fonted, to say the least.

"thanks a million. i'll be up ahead." With that, the skeleton walked down the path towards the Ruins.

"...Did he not he say "up ahead?"

Toriel also looked slightly confused at Sans' self-contradiction before putting it out of her mind. "Oh well. Let us keep moving." The undead silently agreed by continuing on the path forward, cueing Toriel to follow behind.

The Undead got an idea. Toriel likes jokes… "So… that Sans fellow is rather… humerus, is he not?"

Thereafter, the woods filled with Toriel's delighted laughter, and the Undead made his first joke in centuries.

005


	6. On a cold subterranean night

006

Toriel was rather enjoying finally being out of the Ruins. She was also thoroughly enjoying the human's company, now that she had found something she could help him with.

He was very rusty when it came to jokes and humor.

Once he had cracked that rather well set up skeleton pun, she simply had to ask him to tell her more to pass the time. Unfortunately, he was pretty much dry when it came to jokes she would be able to understand. The majority of his were rather dark and had been shaped by the way things were going above. Fortunately for him, she has the technique of making her and Sans' jokes down to a science and was glad to teach him her ways. As they went deeper into the snowy underground forest, they told jokes back and forth. She thought it was a shame she had not brought her journal with her, the human had made a particularly good and quite topical setup joke that went something like this…

"Ah, hello miss… it may be a rather chilly night, but it is very 'ice' to meet you!"

She liked that one the most.

He rather liked this one, even though he was certain he was never a true knight, he could understand the humor thanks to Toriel, She started it off with: "What do you call it when knights trade places with each other around their hall's table?" The Undead was stumped, so he beckoned her to continue. "The 'knight' shift!"

The trading of puns and ice/snow jokes went on for some time until they had finally came to a kind of "fork" in the path. It was a little open where the paths intersected, and the Undead could see a box sitting under a tree. He made to open it, but he noticed something about it.

A small string, coming off it's wooden chassis, curling into a pattern he distrusted on principle.

Toriel noticed him avoiding the dimensional box, and she had to ask him why. "Is something the matter? You seem to be avoiding that box…"

The Undead crossed his steel coated arms and he faced down the left path, trying to ignore the box. "I do not trust most boxes or chests very much. On the surface, there are these creatures, mimics… they look exactly like chests, and if you open them… well, let us just say it gets… nasty."

Toriel looked at him funnily for a moment, before putting it aside as a "surfacer thing." She was willing to bet he had a bad experience with one of these "mimics" before, so she decided to not press him. If his world was corrupt enough that even things which usually contained goods were willing to attack, she wouldn't bring back bad experiences, just like he wouldn't press on As-

Him.

She shuddered internally and externally, and brought the black cloak closer into herself, before looking to the human. He was looking down the leftmost path when he turned back to her and spoke again. "...Anyways, which way do you think we should go? I would prefer to not get lost out here."

Toriel let her eyes drift around, not seeing anything she recognised. "I do not know the exact way, it has been a long time since I was anywhere outside the Ruins… but I do know it is a mostly straighter path directly away from the Ruins entry if we would be headed to the capital. So…" She pointed to the right path. "I say this one." The human nodded and let her lead. She wanted to strike up more jokes, but the human remained silent and watchful once more. After some more travelling, they noticed a certain duo ahead. It was Papyrus and Sans, and they seemed to be talking between themselves.

" **SO, AS I WAS SAYING ABOUT UNDYNE,"** The skeleton was about to continue something he had obviously been speaking about, when he noticed Toriel and the human out of the corner of his…

Eye... socket?

The duo shared a look, before turning around and huddling up.

" **SANS! OH MY GOD! IS THAT… A HUMAN!?"**

The duo turned back to what they had seen, and Sans spoke up. "uhhhh… actually, i think that's a rock."

Papyrus looked back at his brother, seemingly deflated and disappointed. **"OH."**

Toriel and the Undead simultaneously experienced a look of utter disbelief at the tall skeleton, when Sans decided to make up for his brother's gullibility.

"hey, what are those in front of the rock?"

The tall skeleton was once again surprised. **"OH MY GOD!"** Once again, the duo huddled up, this time whispering so Toriel and her human travelling partner couldn't hear.

( **IS… IS THAT A HUMAN… AND A SMALLER CLONE OF ASGORE?)**

Sans wasn't quite so sure about that second part, but eh. (...yes.)

Papyrus broke from the the huddle and got even more excited. **"OH MY GOD! SANS! I FINALLY DID IT! UNDYNE WILL… I'M GONNA… I'LL BE SO… POPULAR! POPULAR! POPULAR!**

Papyrus' excitement suddenly vanished, and he loudly "cleared his throat" with an audible **"AHEM,"** Then pointed at the Undead.

" **HUMAN! YOU SHALL NOT PASS THIS AREA! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL STOP YOU! I WILL THEN CAPTURE YOU! YOU WILL THEN BE DELIVERED TO THE CAPITAL! THEN… THEN! I'M NOT SURE WHAT'S NEXT. IN ANY CASE! CONTINUE… ONLY IF YOU DARE!"** After his "heroic monologue," Papyrus ran off further down the path, **"NYEH HEH HEH!"** -ing as he went, leaving Sans with the duo.

"well, that went well. don't sweat it big guy. i'll keep an eye socket out for ya." After a wink, Sans followed his ecstatic brother.

The Undead wasn't quite sure what just happened, but he was sure it was a part of that favor Sans asked for a while ago.

Toriel was also slightly confused. "I would like to know how Sans got here before us…"

The Undead agreed with this. "As would I, Toriel. Those two are quite the conundrum already." The two decided it was best to keep moving on. They were sure plenty more interruptions were bound to happen.

They kept trudging on, passing a cardboard box along the way, ignoring it totally. Not far ahead of the box, they saw a sentry station with a sign just before it. The Undead tromped up to the sign and read it aloud.

"Absolutely no moving."

Toriel looked over his shoulder at the structure ahead. "What do you think it could mean?"

The Undead fiddled with his claymore's pommel, turning his attention to the post as well. "I am willing to bet that is another monster's post, probably another one watching for humans. I am unsure what the sign means, though…" They kept walking onward, when a dog monster slowly unhid himself from behind his post's counter. He had a black bandanna on his head, a pink shirt that had no sleeves, and some kind of baggy yellow and black patterned pants.

"Did something move? ...Was it my imagination?" The dog drew a pair of shiny blue daggers and hopped onto the path before the now stone-still Undead and Toriel. Thankfully for them, the wind had died down and their cloaks lie still as well. The dog looked around, his eyes squinting and shiftily looking for the sources of the movements.

The Undead eyed the glinting blades and slowly made to draw his claymore, his hand snaking along his waist inch after inch. Even this slight motion caught the dog's attention, and he started investigating the area by poking the Undead with a dagger. To his surprise, the dagger passed right through him as he stood still, and the dog was still right in front of him, confused.

It was at this critical moment Toriel recalled something about the Underground's dog monsters. They were all rather varied and quirky, but they all shared a common trait. They all wanted to be petted. She ever so slowly inched next to the Undead and put her mouth as close to his ear as she could without bumping into him. "Try to pet him." She whispered into his ear. He was slightly caught off guard by her proximity, but didn't panic enough to move. He took her advice and ceased his draw.

Once the dog backed off a little, the Undead's hand shot forward and he petted the shorter dog monster right between the ears, reducing him to a joyed, spazzing mass of fur in the snow.

"WHAT! I'VE BEEN PET!" He was barking and trying to figure out what was happening, so the duo quickly ran past him and his station, stopping once they were a safe distance from the canine rogue. He eventually calmed down and looked for what had petted him, but he couldn't find a thing.

The confused canine would later smoke numerous dog treats, then proceed to Grillby's.

Meanwhile, Toriel and her Undead partner had moved on further down the path, Toriel being in the lead. Before long, they were met with yet another expanse in the forest. This one had a large patch of ice with a sign in the middle and two paths going off in their own directions. Before they did anything, the Undead stopped to check himself over.

"... Do you have any explanation for that monster's non-corporeal dagger trick?"

She gained a thoughtful look, before composing just what to say. "I believe he was using a "blue" attack. Many monsters have colored soul attacks, or can color their attacks. Blue attacks will only impact your soul if you are moving, so it would usually be wise to stop if one is headed your way. Of course, that depends on if you are even worried about them."

"I would like to avoid taking hits if possible. Thank you for sharing, Toriel." She gave him a smile and put her hands before her in her cloak's sleeves to keep them warm. She noticed the sign ahead and made to go read it, but she had forgotten what was underfoot.

Just as she had both feet onto the ice patch, she slipped.

His reflexes were once more there when he needed them, and the Undead had managed to stop Toriel from falling backwards and hitting her head. He caught her with his arms underneath hers, and her upper half resting against his armored chest.

Toriel expected to keep falling though, and gave a slight gasp when she was stopped. She looked up and saw the human looking down, concern etching his gaunt, hooded face.

She was as quiet as a field mouse, and about as red as a tomato. "Um… thank you." The Undead helped her stand back up straight, allowed her to re-attempt to cross the ice, now that she was fully aware it was underfoot. She carefully made her way over to the sign, still slightly blushing, and very warm around her face. She shakily approached the sign, and slightly knelt down to read it for herself. Once she had it read, she made her way back across the ice to the Undead.

She had to compose herself a little before she could speak. "The only thing important on that sign is that we just need to keep heading the way we have been, we will reach a town by the name of "Snowdin" soon enough."

The Undead couldn't help but crack a smirk at the name. "A rather creative name. I wonder if there is snow there."

Toriel couldn't help but smile a bit as well. "I do know that there is ice there." Still smirking, the Undead shook his head and walked around the ice patch to continue forward, Toriel in tow.

After more walking, the forest finally gave way to a large cliff and dropoffs, as well as a familiar sight. Papyrus and Sans awaited the travelling duo, an odd patch of snow separating the two groups.

Toriel and the Undead shared a look. It looked like the brothers were at it again.

" **YOU'RE SO LAZY! YOU WERE NAPPING ALL LAST NIGHT!"**

Sans gave his brother a somehow cheeky smile. "i think that's called… sleeping."

Obviously, Papyrus would have none of it. **"EXCUSES, EXCUSES!"** After chastising his brother, the two both noticed Toriel and the Undead.

" **OH-HO! THE HUMAN AND HIS ASGORE-CLONE FRIEND HAVE ARRIVED! IN ORDER TO STOP YOU, HUMAN, MY BROTHER AND I HAVE CREATED SOME PUZZLES! I THINK YOU WILL FIND THIS ONE… QUITE SHOCKING!"** Both Toriel and the Undead could easily catch his attempt at a joke, but he was really trying too hard. Toriel also didn't appreciate his comparison of her and Asgore.

" **FOR YOU SEE… THIS IS THE INVISIBLE ELECTRICITY MAZE! WHEN YOU TOUCH THE WALLS OF THIS MAZE…"** The skeleton man procured a small orb from inside his "armor," and held it at arm's length for the duo to see. **"THIS ORB WILL ADMINISTER A HEARTY ZAP! SOUND LIKE FUN? BECAUSE! THE AMOUNT OF FUN YOU WILL PROBABLY HAVE IS ACTUALLY RATHER SMALL, I THINK. OK. YOU CAN GO AHEAD NOW."**

The Undead was a little bit at a loss as to what Papyrus' puzzle was, he claimed it was invisible, and that it could "zap" him.

Not that he had never experienced either of those things, but he had not yet had them happening at the same time. With a brave inch forward, his boot did indeed collide with an unseen wall. He expected a zap, but it did not issue to him, it instead had zapped Papyrus.

The irate skeleton stomped his foot at his brother, blaming him. **"SANS! WHAT DID YOU DO?!"**

Once more, the short skeleton had a cheeky look. "i think the human has to hold the orb."

" **OH, OKAY."** Papyrus started off into the maze from his side, his boots leaving a trail as he went. He walked right in front of the Undead and handed him the orb, before going back through the maze to his side. The Undead, in sheer disbelief, looked at the orb, trail, and awaiting Papyrus on the other side.

" **OKAY, TRY NOW."**

After sending a "help me" look to Toriel and an airless sigh, the Undead retraced Papyrus' steps through the maze and ended up on the other side unscathed and unzapped.

" **INCREDIBLE! YOU SLIPPERY SNAIL! YOU SOLVED IT SO EASILY… TOO EASILY! HOWEVER! THE NEXT PUZZLE WILL NOT BE EASY! IT WAS DESIGNED BY MY BROTHER, SANS! YOU WILL SURELY BE CONFOUNDED! I KNOW I AM!"** With yet another monologue complete, Papyrus ran off to the next puzzle, but Sans stayed behind.

The Undead approached Sans and held the shock orb out to him. Sans took it and merely tossed it over his shoulder off the cliff. "hey, thanks… my brother seems like he's having fun. by the way, did you see that weird outfit he's wearing? we made that a few weeks ago for a costume party. he hasn't worn anything else since… keeps calling it his "battle body." he really wants to be a knight, kinda like you." Sans rapped his bony hand on the Undead's ornate chestpiece, and continued.

"isn't my brother cool?"

/

The journey went on like this for sometime for the two duos, but some more interesting things had happened. Toriel and the Undead had met a distraught "Nicecream" man, who was selling the frozen treats, but not really "selling" them. Toriel would have bought one, but both she and the Undead were lacking coinage… well, the Undead did have a single gold coin, but he wasn't giving that one up anytime soon. He had also never even heard of ice cream, let alone nice cream. The salesman had claimed them to be "the frozen treat that warms your heart."

So far, he only knew of one "thing" that could warm his heart.

Sans awaited them just after that, he had made a golf course with a snowball. The Undead was once again clueless to the modern monster sport, and had to get instruction. He ended up using his sword as a club, hitting the snowball with the flat of the blade. Sans and Toriel passed some jokes while the Undead made the hole in four strokes. When he and Toriel regrouped, Sans pitched them a sale for fried snow treats. This got Toriel laughing, and the Undead confused.

"Would that not just be… melted snow? Water?" The two then laughed at his expense.

Just past Sans the duo found a matching set of sentry posts, along with a sign that outlined various scents and what to do about them. While they had been checking these, Sans moved on to his "real" puzzle which by the time Toriel and the undead arrived merely amounted to a wordsearch lying in a cleared patch of snow.

Needless to say, when it failed to stop the human, Papyrus was rather displeased with his brother, and then the two started talking about "crosswords" and "jumbles," both of which the Undead had no opinion on… for obvious reasons. Toriel found the puzzle to be amusing, and she rather liked crosswords.

After that, the duo happened upon an odd setup, featuring frozen spaghetti, an unplugged microwave, and a note left by Papyrus explaining that it was a trap meant to hold the human up. The Undead wouldn't mind trying the plate of monster food, so he asked Toriel to heat it with her magic. The reheated food tasted just fine to him, but when Toriel tried a bite, she recoiled at its taste. The Undead just shrugged and ate all of it, thanking Toriel for reheating the food.

The next few areas were the strangest. They were first confronted by a lightly-armored dog soldier wielding a stone sword and a kite shield. Remembering Toriel's lesson on dogs, the Undead petted him. And then pet him some more. And some more. Eventually he had to stop, because the dog's neck was doing unnatural things the more he petted him. The dog let them pass without much of a hitch after the intense petting battle. The area required them to find a switch, hidden in a rather obvious patch of recently cleared snow.

The small walkways following this were host to an even stranger battle. The Undead was accosted by a pair of black-cloaked axe-wielding dogs who would only stop nuzzling each other's noses to sniff or attack the Undead warrior. He accidentally beat them when he dodge-rolled their axe attacks, thus making him smell like a dirty, armored dog to the two. He then viciously countered their attacks with pettings for the two of them, making the dogs think they had been petted by another dog. Thoroughly confused and simultaneously enlightened, the two left the way they came. Toriel was impressed, he had not yet harmed a single monster, and he was using her alternate tactics as self-defense. He was quite an adaptable human, and she was truly admiring his restraint when he could easily strike down anyone who got in his way if he felt like it.

Papyrus' next puzzle involved stepping on X's to turn them to O's, the Undead simply assumed this occurred through magic when he stepped on them. The first one of these was very simplistic. After his trap was easily circumvented, Papyrus asked the Undead if he had ate his spaghetti trap, and was rather joyed to hear that the human had ate all of it. The glad skeleton then promised to make the warrior more later, proclaiming himself a "master chef," (which Toriel couldn't help but scoff a little at) he then commented on how Sans had started a sock collection, after which he moved on to his next circle puzzle, which he had earlier remodeled to look like his face.

This puzzle took the Undead two tries to get, but he did it nonetheless.

The puzzle after this, however…

The next puzzle was purportedly made by a "Doctor Alphys," according to the skeleton brothers. It was an incredibly convoluted contraption of numerous colors that would randomly generate a puzzle with an even more convoluted set of rules to follow in order to find the one solution. The device was more strange technology the Undead had never seen, but in the end it failed and made a puzzle that simply required him and Toriel to walk right across it.

The subsequent puzzle was much easier. The Undead simply had another circle puzzle to solve, but the X's were arrayed around a frozen surface that would drop him to a lower level if he fell. This one was easy because his silver knight boots had a number of small ornamental spikes and burrs that helped grip to the ice, all he had to do was walk about and press all the X's. When he finished it, he helped Toriel across to the now open and quite iced over bridge (Causing her to hide her face from him, she got embarrassed at his gentle touch).

The final cliffside area featured another dog guardian. This one was, somehow, hiding in a snow poff. The dog was encased in a massive suit of armor that made even the Undead seem normal in size, and it wielded a spear. The Undead actually had to equip his shield for this battle, the dog was trying to strike at him from a distance. He subverted this thanks to his anti-magical equipment as well as his knowledge of blue attacks, and managed to get close enough to pull off a parry on the hulking canine warrior, he then followed this up with a critical pet-attack, which the simpler dog easily gave into. He had even hopped out of his armor to lick the Undead's face, revealing himself to actually be rather petite in dimensions. The dog then resuited backwards, and walked off.

The final puzzle of the skeleton brothers was right after this, based on a rickety bridge. It involved a cavalcade of sharp objects, fires, maces on chains, and another dog hanging from a rope. The Undead was certain he could make it through this, if he could make it through Sen's Fortress… then he could…

...make it through… Sans' Fortress?

Even though the Undead was sure he could easily take on this "puzzle," Papyrus called it off, saying it would take out the human too easily and directly, claiming he was a skeleton of standards.

The Undead almost took offense to that, he had been through far worse traps and machines and come out unscathed!

...most of the time. Toriel was glad he didn't have to though, she nearly had a heart attack when the traps revealed themselves. That dog looked quite menacing! She wasn't particularly fond of the loose, rickety bridge in the first place, and she didn't want the human rolling and dodging around on it, he could get hurt. Papyrus ran off after, letting Sans, a very tired Toriel, and a disappointed Undead continue.

Finally, they saw it, a sign with big, welcoming letters that read…

" _ **WELCOME TO SNOWDIN"**_

006


	7. Humanity restored

A/N: Almost 2000 views? And only on chapter seven of a new story? I've gotta say thanks to everyone. And now to answer a few things I got asked in the reviews. Chara is an integral part of the Undertale story, being the first human to fall in the Underground after all. Like a few things, Chara will be reformed slightly to fit with the altered timeline of having non-modern humanity on the surface.

007

Saying Snowdin was a sight for sore eyes wasn't enough of an understatement in Toriel's mind. She was ready to get out of this snow now, even though she's a monster of the furred variety, and one with fire magic at that, she wasn't enjoying this cold anymore. The undead didn't seem to care, he was totally unfazed by what would be biting-cold steel armor pressed against him. Something was worrying Toriel though.

"I do not believe walking into town with our human friend here is the best of ideas, Sans." She eyed the towering, conspicuously well-armed and armored man. He was drawing some people's attention, even though they were still at the town's limits.

Sans looked at him as well. "nah, i bet he'd be able to walk right past most of these people. they might think he's a royal guard or something, might get my bro jealous. you're gonna wanna keep your hood lower though, you won't pass for a dog with that mug." The undead silently took his advice and drew his armor's hood further over his face, seemingly obscuring what was beneath in shadow.

Sans' skeletal smile got a little cheekier. "just like dogamy and dogaressa, with tiny's armor." With a wave of his bony hand, he made to leave the duo.

Toriel needed to ask him… "Sans, hold on for a moment." Once she had gotten his attention, she continued her question. "...Where may we get out of this cold? I have not been to this town before…"

The undead could have sworn he saw faux remembrance flash of across Sans' face. "oh yeah, that's right, you don't get out much. well there's grillby's, mine and papyrus' house… and the inn, right over there. me and papyrus' shifts aren't over yet, grillby's will be pretty packed right about now, and the inn'll cost ya eighty gold to sleep in, which actually works out. when me 'n papyrus were setting up that last trap, all those dogs the human kept petting gave me something to hand off to ya when they passed by us heading into town, nearly forgot though… nearly. heheheh." Sans un pocketed a cloth bag and tossed it to the undead, who deftly caught it out of the air. He opened it up, finding it filled with small gold coins.

"not saying I counted it or anything, but i think there's like ninety gold in there. anyways, you two stay… cool." The short skeleton gave the two a wink and headed off through town. Toriel couldn't help but chuckle at Sans' pun, and the human seemed amused, but he still remained silent.

She looked to him, still smiling a little. "Something the matter?"

The undead crossed his arms, drawing his cloak in around himself. "Hrrm… I have not been around this many… 'normal' people before…"

Needless to say, her smile faded. "Oh. Well, do not worry! Just… act natural, like you are simply another royal guard passing on through, how Sans suggested. Now, to the inn?" She got a nod accompanied by a quiet "Yes."

Toriel took the lead with the silent undead following behind. The first building of the town was actually a conjoined one, made of what looked to be two small in-home style businesses, a shop, and the aforementioned inn. It was rather small…

Once they were inside the pleasantly warm and toasty building, the owner of the establishment politely asked them to wipe their feet on the doormat, Toriel doing it without hesitation, and the undead worried his ornate boots might ruin the mat, but he tried his best. They got caught on the fibers more than a few times.

The two approached the bunny woman's counter, and they could tell she was a bit wary about the tall armored figure of the human. Toriel decided to do the talking, and she let the owner do her thing.

"Welcome to the Snowed Inn, one room for the night is eighty gold…" She looked down at the sign-in sheet before her before continuing. "And we just so happen to have one room left! It's got a large bed that I think will accommodate the both of you just fine, if your… husband (?) took off that armor."

The undead's fully hooded head shifted a little at that and Toriel could feel her face trying to redden, but she fought it back. "There are none with separate beds?" She got a head shake from the owner.

She couldn't quite keep the red away... 'Of course, one awkward ordeal after the other…'

"Toriel, it is fine, you take the room. I do not need the sleep, you do." The owner honestly seemed a little startled at his gravelly voice, but it passed quickly. She seemed a bit confused though.

Toriel looked away from the counter and to his covered face, looking right through the shadows of his hood. "You are the one who earned the gold…"

He remained stock still and adamant. "Yes, and you are the one who actually needs sleep and the privacy."

Toriel wasn't about to have the human out wandering the cold streets just because she couldn't handle having him in the same room as her… even though she was sure he wouldn't be able to catch a cold, or really care about the temperature at all. But he could still get in trouble, or get in a fight!

"You could just… erm… stay on the floor?" She was really feeling the blush now, and the owner was getting even more confused.

The undead's hood moved and looked at the stairwell, avoiding Toriel's gaze. "...Fine." He handed Toriel the bag of gold so she could pay the owner. After counting out the due coins, the owner asked them their names.

"Toriel."

"...L."

Toriel actually looked a little surprised at the undead calling himself something. The owner took down their names under the room number, handed them their key, then wished them a good night's rest. After they went upstairs, the bunny rested her head on her hands and huffed.

"What a weird couple."

…

Once they were in their room, Toriel locked the door behind the undead, and he immediately went over to the room's corner farthest from the large bed and sat at it in the very same position he sat at bonfires with, left leg flat, right knee up, and right arm resting the raised knee, and head low.

Toriel took her cloak off and hung it on the room's coat rack. She noticed the undead had his head low, his hood covering all of his face, the opening not facing her. She was a bit awkward about it, but she quickly took off her robe and set it next to the bed, getting under the covers with only her undergarments on. The human was in the same position as before, he hadn't looked. He was still respecting her privacy, and she didn't even have to ask.

For someone who had been on the hellish surface for hundreds of years, he actually had better manners than some monsters.

After getting adjusted to the large and comfy bed, she turned out the light and turned over. She was a bit unnerved, knowing the undead would be awake all night, but she was also relieved in a way. She could tell he was actually a good person, and if anything went wrong he'd be more than capable of putting a stop to it. He'd make sure she was safe. She was about to try and nod off when she remembered he had actually called himself something. "So, L?"

The human's dark shape still didn't move an inch. "Ever since you healed me, I have been remembering and seeing things more clearly. Before, I would have only the most basic states of mind when I was awake, but thanks to you, I feel I have regained quite a lot of myself. I am also remembering my name, and I am certain it starts with an L."

Toriel shifted under the covers a little, trying to see the man's shape in the dark. "Earlier you said you did not need to sleep… yet you are talking about being awake as if you do sleep."

Still motionless. "I can sleep, but only at a bonfire either I or a Fire Keeper has lit. I light them with shards of embers, and Firekeepers keep them lit with their endless stores of humanity, acting as living embers themselves. As long as the bonfire is lit, I can rest at it for as long as I please. Previously, I would be at my best mental state while sleeping, and I would go back to my basic, fully mute self in waking. That has been ended, all thanks to you, Toriel."

She had no idea her simple healing had done that much for him. She had no clue why it would mentally unblock him, though…

'Block… the blockage on his inner soul, maybe?'

"...When I healed you and checked your soul's state, I saw a… hole, in it's very center, shaped like another soul, surrounded by what looked like a kind of scarring. Your vast outer soul encases that hollow center, and the center was unblocked after I healed you. I have no clue why, but it worked… could you feel anything while you were unconscious?"

"Yes. I felt warmth passing over me periodically, I assume that was you healing me."

Toriel sat up, still covered. "I only healed you once, but I did check up on you numerous times… have you felt that "warmth" any other time?"

"...Yes."

"When?"

"..."

"L?"

"When I am with you."

Toriel was at a loss as to what she should say. She herself, not her healing, was the reason why he was getting better. She was the warmth.

"L…?"

For the first time, the human shifted in the dark, and she swore she could see his eyes even through the pitch black, seeming to be open in pondering.

"Whenever you get close to me, put your hand to me, or give me a smile… I can feel warmth in my chest, and when you go, or stop smiling… I feel cold again. I feel like I become colder than ever before, and then I get used to it once more. I don't know what it means."

"L… it was not my healing that healed your soul and mind, it was…"

Their eyes finally met in the dark, and the undead finished her sentence. "You."

Both of their minds were now awhirl...

/

Toriel made the connection quickly, he had been broken long ago, and something crucial was ripped from his very soul... and he needed something from her to fix him. His love had been torn away… and he needed someone to take their place in that gaping, soul-sized part of him. Had he lost someone when the surface went wrong? Does he remember anything about that?

Could she be the one who would give him the love he needed? Does she like him like that? Could she? He was certainly a good individual, he changed his ways when needed, he was strong, protective, gentle, decisive, and certainly had proven himself to be even deeper than what she had seen so far. When compared to Asgore, he was up there, and even higher. He had the drive to make decisions and take a chance, he was also able to make it on the surface world.

There could be a place in her heart for this unique human.

/

He was awash with emotions he hadn't felt in what seemed an eternity. Just talking about this with Toriel was making his body feel… more alive. He could feel the warmth radiating about, beating the cold back, and he couldn't help but think about it all. He reached into his mind to tag a name to this forgotten feeling, this warmth, and soon he found it. Love. It was an emotion that seemed far away, missing.

But does he love Toriel? She certainly matches everything that triggers the feelings of love, she was kind, generous, forgiving, accepting, hospitable towards him almost unconditionally… and she was certainly beautiful. He had seen beauty before, in a painting that held a prisoner, one who the king had locked away because she was spurred forth by chaos and threatened his power. She was peaceful, and when the undead had met her, all he could think of was how utterly unreal she seemed, in that dreary prison. And he was seeing that kind of beauty once more. Toriel could hold an importance to him he swears he held for someone once before.

/

There wasn't much doubt about it in his mind now. "Toriel… I believe I like you quite a lot..."

...and similarly, there wasn't much in hers. "I like you too, L."

For a few moments, the two stayed in their spots and positions, thinking on feelings and each other.

"L… would you like to… sleep in the bed too?"

L looked up again at that, that was quite the offer. "I would love to, Toriel." The man stood from his corner to sit on the edge of the bed, his back to Toriel. He then went to work on his armor, starting with equipment belt, claymore, and shield. After that, he started the process of slowly taking the silver knight's armor off piece by piece, tedious in the dark. Toriel crept up next to him on the bed and lit a small magical fire in the air for light, then went to work on his armor as well, their hands reaching and undoing his armor together, letting the pieces fall to the floor next to the bed. Once his upper body was finally unarmored, L stood and dealt with the leggings and boots himself, then removed his shirt. He looked down at his body in the magical light, noticing he had actually gained some fat and body mass. It looked like monster food's absorptive properties did him a lot of good, even though he had eaten very little so far.

Toriel turned out her magical fire and retook her spot under the covers, then held them up for L while he got under with her. He felt warm, warmer that he'd ever been. His whole body felt like it was alight with the warmth. Once the two got situated under the blankets, they began to feel for each other, their first cuddles and hugs of getting used to each other.

Toriel noticed L wasn't cold anymore, he felt alive. He had a neutral, slightly metallic scent, like he had not broke a sweat or perspired in forever and been encased in nothing but his armor, which he had been.

L noticed Toriel's fur felt absolutely luxurious as they cuddled, and even in the dark, her ruby-red eyes and loving smile graced him. He genuinely smiled back, and said a word he hadn't uttered to someone else in so long.

"Goodnight, Toriel."

Toriel snuggled into his chest, his strong arms protecting her. "Goodnight… L."

For the first time in a long time, L fell asleep naturally, unassisted by a bonfire or ember's warmth…

All he'd need is Toriel's.

007


	8. Royal guard?

008

To L, natural sleep was… different. It wasn't like the maelstrom of repeated thoughts and mantras his mind went through in bonfire induced sleep, natural sleep was peaceful. When he "rested" at bonfires he never fully got rest, because his mind never ceased its work. But now he was feeling slowed and relaxed, like he could stop trying to hold onto his own mind desperately, like he'd finally gotten a firm grasp on it. And even now he could still feel the new warmth all around him…

...Love…

Just thinking about that word brought a buzz of genuine happiness to him, he was experiencing so many things he once believed lost, emotions, thoughts, love… all because he'd felt like exploring Mt. Ebott, and when he let himself fall into its depths, he least expected love to be what he'd find. He began to wonder why it felt so… familiar, though. But that familiarity was far off and, like his name, incomplete. The most he could associate with love from memory was a small, wooden house at the edge of the forests of his fallen kingdom…

But now, all he could presently think of loving was Toriel. He really owed her a great deal, what she had done meant so much to him. While he wondered what she loved about him, L knew exactly what he loved her for. No one else was like her, not on the surface, and thanks to Asgore's plans, not down here, either.

...Asgore. He couldn't help but wonder what the king of monsters was like in person. Once they awoke, they would be continuing on their journey to warn the king of just what awaited him on the surface, to tell him of the sheer horror that he would unleash on his people if he broke that barrier and became known to the world above.

No, he couldn't let thoughts of the surface invade this peace, and he couldn't let the surface invade the Underground. He was certain it was the last bastion of society.

He decided to stop thinking, and just let himself go blank in the peace and warmth.

/

With a well-slept yawn, Toriel slowly came to. She had definitely slept better than she had when she was alone in the Ruins, that was for sure. She and L were still embracing, and he was asleep. She thought he said he could only sleep at bonfires? She put the odd contradiction aside, and snuggled back up with him. As she pressed into him, Toriel noticed that L may have felt warm and alive, but he was still unbreathing and his heart remained as still as before. As she lay there with him, she sadly traced the outline of the Death Mark over his heart. Her hands then felt around his body, the scars of innumerable battles evident all across him.

'You have been through so much, L…'

After a few more minutes of laying with him, she felt him stirring. He silently woke, not needing a yawn or intake of breath to snap himself awake. When L noticed Toriel cuddling into him and smiling at him, he couldn't stop himself from smiling as well. He gently rubbed her back, running his fingers through her snowy fur.

"Good morning L… you slept?"

"Yes, another thing you have allowed me to do, I suspect. It felt much more natural than a bonfire, so it must have been you."

"I am glad you are feeling more and more normality… L, when we end Asgore's plan to break the barrier, what will you do? Will you stay here with us? With me?"

L answered without hesitation. "Yes. I will not willingly return to the surface, knowing I could instead spend my life with you…" A look of realization hit him. "Wait… I am immortal, Toriel... are you as well? You told me you ruled with Asgore, even before the war between our kind."

Toriel finally adjusted herself so she was sitting up next to L. "My species, Boss monsters, only truly age when we have children. Both the parents and child grow until the parents pass, after that the grown child continues the cycle."

L couldn't stop himself from wondering… "...Did you and Asgore have children when you were together?" He felt regret well up immediately when he saw Toriel get a look that reminded him the look she had back in the Ruins, when he pressed her about Asgore.

Having to remember was painful, but Toriel couldn't leave her love interest in the dark about what had happened before. "We did. Two children… who both died far too young. It was after the war, and Asgore and I just had our son, Asriel. A few years later, the first human fell into our world. He was… a special child to say the least. His name was Characas. He was an adolescent boy, barely into his thirteenth year. He had fallen in the very same spot you must have, and Asriel found and befriended him. Asgore and I adopted the boy… and he later became very ill…"

She slid out of the covers and sat at the edge of the bed, L then joined her, setting his arms comfortingly over her shoulders.

"He made a last request, to see the flowers of his home village… we could not fulfill it with the barrier in the way… but once he passed, Asriel must have absorbed his soul. With that power, he could cross the barrier… after the fact, we figured it out that he took Characas' body to his village to complete his last wish… and the humans attacked him…" She was starting to tear up, she always did, remembering the next part. L did his best to console her and show her he was listening.

"He came home with Characas' body, and he was mortally wounded… we had no idea he had left… we could do nothing to heal Asriel. Just like that, our children had died, and there was nothing we could do about it. After that, Asgore's plan to break the barrier began. It was in vengeance's name, and I was disgusted at his willingness to take the souls of humans, just so he could go out into the world and restart the war that had killed most of our very own species. When he started taking souls, I left him and isolated myself as a guardian of the Ruins to do my best to prevent his plan from coming to fruition. The sad thing about Asgore is that he is hardly even dedicated to his plan. He has six souls, and it only takes one to be able to pass through the barrier freely, and seven to break it entirely. If he wanted to, he could absorb all six, pass through the barrier, collect one more, then break the barrier for us all to be freed. Yet he will not do it, instead he waits for humans to come to him, hoping he does not have to come through on his promise of freedom to his people, letting them stay down here with freedom promised to them… he does this because he detests himself for killing those children for their souls. I cannot stand what he has promised, done, and refused to do. And now it's too late for his plan to ever work, and those children were killed in vain." She was progressively getting closer to crying as she recounted her family's past, but she felt L's comforting embrace remind her she had someone again. "I am sorry for dumping my worries on you, L…"

L leaned into her, holding her close. "Do not be. You were there for me from the moment I fell into the Ruins, so I am here for you now. I am… unsure… if I have ever experienced anything quite like that… but I can tell it tore you up having to deal with so many things at once, one after the other. But you have stayed strong and done something about Asgore's plot, and I am sure that is what Characas and Asriel would want from their mother. If I may ask further, what were they like?"

Toriel actually smiled a little, remembering her sons dearly. "Asriel was a wonderful son, he was the light of our lives down here. He was so friendly and was adored by many, well-behaved, well-mannered… it's almost funny that Characas was like his opposite in nearly every way. We loved that boy too, and people hoped he could one day act as an ambassador between monsters and humans… but he was… a bit of a dark child, to say the least. I feel he had some poor influences on Asriel, where Asgore wasn't a rough and strict father, Characas seemed to take it upon himself to be like that towards his younger, impressionable brother… the two were inseparable, but Characas was a real troublemaker at times." The two shared a smile, knowing secrets couldn't be kept between each other.

"I can only wonder what I was like when I was younger. The same with my family… parents… siblings? I have no recollection of anything. Having no memories of family actually pains me, now that I know I must have had them at one point…" Toriel hugged the human close to her and gently nuzzled him on the nose.

"Well, now we have each other. And I am glad I chose someone as truly unique as you, L."

He was rather enjoying the nuzzle, "And I am glad I found someone as absolutely amazing as you, Toriel." Their noses were still touching, they were close to a kiss, eyes caught on each other's…

A sudden knocking on the door rang out. Toriel answered, having to look away from L. "Yes, what is it?"

A young voice responded through the door. "Comp… complimentary breakfast is being served in the guest's room, if you'd like some."

She guessed it might have been a young employee, or maybe the owner's son.

"We will be right out, thank you."

She looked back to L, and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "So, breakfast?"

He gave her a kiss to match hers. "That sounds wonderful."

The two started getting dressed, Toriel putting her robe back on and then helping L with his armor. As she assisted him, she couldn't help but appreciate the quality of this armor's craftsmanship, it was far more user-friendly than the incredibly bulky set L was wearing before, and looked far less utilitarian. Once the two were respectively redressed and re armored, Toriel took her cloak from the rack and the duo left the room for some breakfast.

L had made sure to keep his hood well over his face, but Toriel could see a kind of happiness that seemed to ring out from his posture alone. The guest's room was large enough to house all the guests of the inn at once, but there were only two other monsters and one other couple, all enjoying their breakfast. Toriel had pancakes with syrup… and L tried one of everything. After the assault on breakfast, Toriel left the room key with the owner and the duo left the inn, Toriel putting her cloak on as they returned to the cold of Snowdin.

"So, we keep heading through town and continue on to the capital, correct?"

Toriel pulled her hood over her head as she nodded in confirmation. "Let us hope we do not run into too many interruptions." With agreement reached, the two walked east through the town. The locals were all sorts of furred monsters, it would make sense they'd be fine living out here. Toriel and L walked close together, and Toriel took L's gauntleted hand, holding it and giving him a loving smile through the darkness of his hood. She could tell he was smiling back when it turned to her.

They passed a tree that had been decorated with brightly colored bulbs and lights, various small children and an adult bear monster were gathered around it. L noticed one of the monster kids looking at him, a yellow scaled reptilian child with… no arms? The kid looked as if he were in awe. He put it out of mind not long after they passed him. After the tree was Grillby's, with an "OPEN" sign in the window. It looked like an especially warm building. After that, the… Librarby? Past that was a larger house, featuring two mailboxes out front. One was stuffed full, the other totally empty. The two didn't know who lived here, but they could take a wild guess.

Finally, they were at the town's eastern limits. Just as they were about to follow the path leading out of town, a certain tall skeleton dramatically stepped out from behind one of the trees lining the path.

 **"HUMAN. ALLOW ME TO TELL YOU ABOUT SOME COMPLEX FEELINGS."**

Toriel looked unamused, and she and L stopped holding hands. "Already with this…?"

 **"FEELINGS LIKE… THE JOY OF FINDING ANOTHER PASTA LOVER. THE ADMIRATION FOR ANOTHER'S PUZZLE-SOLVING SKILLS. THE DESIRE TO HAVE A COOL, SMART PERSON THINK YOU ARE COOL. THESE FEELINGS… THEY MUST BE WHAT YOU ARE FEELING RIGHT NOW**! **I CAN HARDLY IMAGINE WHAT IT MUST BE LIKE TO FEEL THAT WAY. AFTER ALL, I AM VERY GREAT. I DON'T EVER WONDER WHAT HAVING LOTS OF FRIENDS IS LIKE. I PITY YOU… LONELY HUMAN…"**

Toriel and L just had to share a look at that, Toriel knowingly grinning at him.

 **"WORRY NOT! YOU SHALL BE LONELY NO LONGER! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL BE YOUR… NO… NO, THIS IS ALL WRONG! I CAN'T BE YOUR FRIEND! YOU ARE A HUMAN! I MUST CAPTURE YOU! THEN, I CAN FULFILL MY LIFELONG DREAM! POWERFUL! POPULAR! PRESTIGIOUS! THAT'S PAPYRUS! THE NEWEST MEMBER… OF THE ROYAL GUARD!"**

The skeleton's shouting and subsequent heroic pose had attracted quite a bit of the locals' attention, and L knew it. So, Papyrus' lifelong dream was to join the royal guard? Well, it just so turned out L was wearing the armor of a certain sect of knights…

"Papyrus! You wish to be a member of your king's royal guard! Well, I must share something with you… for I am a member of my own king's royal guard! I am a silver knight! And I accept your challenge, draw thine weapon and let us have a friendly competition to see who is the better warrior, for the honor of our lords!" Time to put on a show. He unbacked his gleaming silver shield and drew his claymore with a flourish, giving the massive blade an experimental swing, the air around the magical edge rushing out of the way with a loud "Woosh!" as he did so.

Papyrus looked excited, he was going to show just how capable a warrior he could be! He summoned up his bone staff and two handed it, the ends glowing with a preparation to summon his magical bone attacks.

Toriel set her hand on L's shoulder. "You are not going to hurt him, are you?"

L looked at her in just the right way for her to see his smile. "Of course not, he is just a hopeful warrior. He knows not just what being a true warrior means. This is just a friendly little skirmish."

Toriel nodded in understanding, and noticed people were gathering to see the inevitable duel. She motioned for the people to stand back before joining the onlookers, some were in awe, others were looking in disbelief. She just wanted to make sure they were out of harm's way, accidents could happen.

Papyrus and L stood at distance, Papyrus in a readily poised stance, and L in a loose, ready to dodge stance. He was still wearing his enchanted rings. They allowed him to be incredibly agile in almost any kind of armor, taking the weight of the gear down to nearly non-existent. He could dodge things fully armored that not even people wearing normal clothes would be fast enough for.

'Time to get it started.'

"Defend yourself!" L started the attack, running at Papyrus. Papyrus rapidly spun his staff, sending floating bone shaped attacks at the undead. L had to continuously dodge and flip about, and when Papyrus started sending wider blue attacks, he had to hop and duck or suddenly change direction, he had too much momentum to stop in place to let the mixed waves of normal and blue attacks pass him. Papyrus was on the move, still sending attacks at L. He had to slow for a few seconds to regain a bit of his energy, and in that short time period, L had recovered from his last dodge and prepared a tactic he learned from battling the hollowed king's best (and void corrupted) great-swordsman.

He got his legs into a ready-to-jump stance, then held his heavy claymore before him. He made a leap and swung his sword down mid-arch, his rings letting him achieve height nigh-unimaginable of any normal person. He had front-flipped while swinging his sword, resulting in him bringing down a strike with the force of a falling boulder that was as sharp as any blade. He made sure the attack would only scare Papyrus further back, aiming the attack just before the skeleton to encourage him to start dodging.

The meteor-like attack flung snow in every which direction when he landed, and Papyrus had avoided it well enough, stumbling backwards out of reach, but he caught himself using his staff.

L stood from the crater, flourishing his claymore once again. He was beginning to rather like pulling off flourishes after attacks, Silver Knights always wove them into theirs.

Papyrus picked up the pace after he rebalanced, sending a mixed wave of blue and non-blue attacks to keep L in place before he ran forward and cocked his staff back to bring a barrage of striking hits with it against the undead's gleaming shield and armor.

L saw his window. He had done this plenty of times.

He let the strikes batter against his shield to get the timing down, then swung his shield out to redirect the attack and throw Papyrus off-balance. To his credit, Papyrus had back-stepped quickly, trying to get out of range. He didn't expect L to roll forward then kick powdered snow up at him, both blinding him and getting him off-balance as he tried to figure out what was happening. He heard a crack as he felt his staff get ripped from his right hand, and then a sound of rushing air as the snow finally settled out of the air, revealing L right before him, claymore pointed and at the ready.

"You put up an admirable fight, Papyrus, but you have been disarmed and I have the advantageous position. Do you give up?"

Papyrus gave a defeated sigh and held his hands up. **"HUMAN, I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU MANAGED IT, BUT YOU'VE BESTED ME! I USED MY COOLEST ATTACKS AND YET YOU STILL MANAGED TO WIN… THE GREAT PAPYRUS, DEFEATED…"**

L sheathed his claymore and held out his hand for Papyrus to shake. "Good battle, Papyrus. I am L, by the way."

Papyrus shook L's hand gladly, and his trademark skeletal grin came back strong. **"SO, HOW ABOUT YOU AND YOUR ASGORE-CLONE COME HANG OUT FOR A WHILE? I'LL MAKE SPAGHETTI!"**

L grinned at the skeleton beneath his hood. " That sounds good to me."

Toriel audibly groaned at the thought of enduring more of Papyrus' cooking.

008


	9. Knights in shadow

A/N: Sorry for not updating the past two days. My computer was acting up and restarting on me, now I'm behind on all sorts of things. Anyways, almost 4000 views, really blowing me away here guys, thanks!

009

The crowd that had gathered to watch the dual stood stunned, they had just witnessed an actual fight take place right outside their town. Kids were abuzz about how the silver-armored guy jumped so high and how Papyrus was actually pretty cool. But they still thought he wasn't as cool as Undyne, especially a certain yellow-scaled monster kid…

Papyrus, L, and Toriel were walking back towards town when a familiar voice rang out from the crowd. "hey, nice fight you two." Sans was leaned against a tree, his hands in his pockets just as ever.

" **DID YOU SEE HOW WELL I DID, SANS? I'M UNQUESTIONABLY ALMOST-NEARLY-JUST A LITTLE LESS COOL THAN UNDYNE NOW! OH, AND L FOUGHT PRETTY WELL TOO… BUT DID YOU SEE MY BLUE ATTACKS?! THEY WERE LIKE…"** He held his hands out as wide as he could, going on about how strong Undyne's training was apparently making him. As Papyrus went on about how awesome he was in his own little monologue world, Sans beckoned L over.

"so, L huh? i'm not one to talk when it comes to short names, but I think ya got me beat pal. anyways, thanks for taking it easy on my brother, he really needed that. undyne's been giving him warrior training, but he's been having… mixed results, so that'll give him the drive to keep going, at least for a while."

"A favor for a few good friends. Papyrus invited me and Toriel over to your house, will you be coming?"

"nah, i gotta get to my post out by waterfall… what? never seen a guy who works two jobs? just means double the legally required number of breaks… anyways, don't you and tori have some big mission or adventure you need to be going on? pretty sure she said it was "of dire importance" or something stressful like that. i think you guys should get on that, and that's comin' from the master of procrastination himself…"

"...You may be right, Sans. But I would hate to just leave after Papyrus invited us…"

"nah, don't worry about it. i'll tell him you guys had to get going, he'll understand. besides, he's going to be in his own little world for a while after that fight." Sure enough, Papyrus was still monologuing.

Sans gave L a wink. "you and your lady-friend over there get going, wouldn't want undyne to try and stop you if you take too long to get outta dodge, people are bound to be reporting things right about… now."

'Is Sans being facetious about Toriel, or…?'

Sans winked at L, seemingly knowing just what the undead was thinking. L gave him a slightly suspicious look before he walked right past the still-monologuing Papyrus and back to Toriel, who had tried her best to tune out the skeleton's long-winded speech.

"We should just keep going. Sans said people will be reporting what happened here, so we need to get moving again."

Toriel looked relieved. "Good… I doubt I can handle even seeing Papyrus' spaghetti after the first time… and to think you can eat that, you must be made of iron."

L actually grinned at that, then kept walking East with her. "Well, actually, there is this particular fire spell I know…"

/

As Papyrus continued to monologue, Sans felt a drop of sweat forming on his skull as he watched the duo walk East towards Waterfall. He'd felt it the first time he saw that human, and it's had him more on edge than ever. He seemed like an agreeable guy on the outside, but his LOVE and EXP betrayed him.

Where he's from, this guy's been killing things like it was going out of style. And Sans could tell he was a part of a loop in time, he could feel the same souls of the same powerful beings absorbed into him over and over again, like he'd killed them countless times. Sans knew all about the timelines that were going on, and he'd been through all of them hundreds of times.

But this one was new.

He'd seen the fate of the monsters at the hands of Frisk numerous times… peace and happiness, or total genocide… and his own death, and all the possibilities in between. He could only imagine what would happen with this guy. Sans had only ever seen Frisk get a LOVE of 19 before fighting them… L put that to shame by hundreds of levels. Even if Sans went totally, mercilessly, nonstop all out, he doubted he'd be able to do significant damage. Not to mention the fact that L wasn't even trying in that fight, and could pull off moves like he was while wearing legitimate armor. He also had that sword… Frisk with a plain knife is terrifying enough, but this guy…

What kind of surface does this timeline have? Sans seriously doubted it was anything he'd recognise. And he also doubted he'd want to see what can possibly turn out someone as horrifically strong as L.

But there was something that made him hopeful for this timeline. L had yet to actually harm a single monster, whereas Frisk going full genocide would have turned everyone west of Snowdin to piles of dust. L had also become close friends with Toriel, very close. L had even managed to get her out of the Ruins, and they were travelling together… that was also new, what would make Toriel leave the Ruins to speak with Asgore? What could possibly motivate her to that…?

" **AND… SANS, ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING? HEY… WHERE'D EVERYBODY GO? SANS, DID YOU TELL THEM ONE OF YOUR PUNS AGAIN?"**

Sans was knocked from his thoughts by his brother finally realising he was talking to himself. "eh? oh, L and toriel just had to get going, i'm sure they'll be back to hang out later. anywho, i'm going to grillby's…" Sans gave a shrug, and walked off into town. He seemed as nonchalant as usual, but he was feeling internally troubled and did his best to hide it like he'd been doing around L so far.

Papyrus watched as his brother slinked off to town, now realising he was alone. He shouted after his brother: **"WELL, I'M SURE UNDYNE'LL LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT IT!"** and then pulled his phone from his battle body, and just as he was about to make the call, his phone rang. He answered it…

An earsplitting yell issued forth from the cell phone.

"WHAT THE HELL, PAPYRUS?!"

/

Toriel and L had just passed Sans' empty second post, and they were still discussing magic. L's hood was off, and Toriel felt a little warmer in the enclosed cavern, so she left her cloak's front undone. Toriel had just got done asking him how he casts his spells, and he unsheathed his claymore as he walked, and held it before him.

"I use my claymore as a catalyst for sorceries, it is essentially a long piece of enchanted steel, so I can use it to channel my magic. The tassel is actually a rather powerful talisman, which lets me cast miracles as well. I am also capable of some fire magic, but I need gauntlets or gloves to use that, since pyromancy requires a glove to cast." He pointed his claymore down, and held it out for Toriel to hold. He had never let anyone else put their hands on his claymore, not once. "Would you like to hold it?"

She gingerly accepted it with both hands, the heavy blade being totally alien to her. Her magical sensitivity let her feel just how strong of an enchantment it really had, and she could feel the significant use it had gotten. It had been the catalyst for quite a few spells in its time. The talisman felt like a silken smooth cloth, and just touching it gave her visions of the long-lost moon she had once seen, so long ago, now only a vague memory...

She gave it a lightly-forced testing swish, before shooting a look to L. "It certainly feels potent… how was it enchanted?"

"I used quite a few materials to do it, the magical ones being pieces of a material called 'titanite', essentially, after I improved the steel itself, I had hammered in the enchantment into the whole of the weapon with the titanite pieces, green and blue ones specifically."

"So a kind of magical forging, then? I expected wizards or some other spell caster to have made it for you…" She carefully handed the weapon back to L, who took it and resheathed it.

"Truth be told, nobody touches my claymore, except you. You are the first to actually get their hands on it."

'He is willing to let me hold his most prized possession… his life depends on that blade, and he trusts me that much…' Toriel felt happy to know he was that open and trusting with her. She remembered her time with Asgore, and recalled how he'd also let her into every facet of his life. She could tell it was going to only get better with L.

A waterfall could be heard ahead, it wasn't roaringly loud, but it could be heard from within the cavern for a little ways. Once they caught sight of it, they saw just how deceptive that sounds was. Rocks the size of small children were being tossed about like they were nothing, and it flowed right over the path.

L examined the falls, deciding the best course of action to stop the rocks from buffeting them off the edge of the falls. "A perfect time for iron flesh, if I do say so…" He readied the pyromancy in his right hand and slammed it to his chest, becoming a reflective steel color all over. "Stay to my right, the rocks will just bounce right off me while this is active."

Toriel looked him over, and decided to trust in his spellcasting. "Alright L… but if you get hurt trying to impress me, you will not hear the end of it."

He gave her a literally steely smile, then slowly walked next to her into the flow, allowing himself to take the rocks now that he had far greater poise and weight. They forded the waterfall without issue, and L had taken little in the way of damage.

Once they were safe on the other side, Toriel gave L a check over, making sure he didn't get hurt and was just faking it. She even checked with her magic. "That is quite the spell, L…"

"It is… but I am going to be stuck like this for a few minutes, and the most I can do is walk intimidatingly." He demonstrated the hilariously slow and awkward walk he had to do.

The two kept going forward, and thankfully for L the iron flesh wore off, letting him walk normally again. Just ahead, the cavern brightened, like it opened up to the outer underground somewhere above. They walked into the opened up area and noticed an oddly out of place patch of tall grass, when L swore he heard something above. Footsteps. Armored ones, and they were heading in their direction. L had to be quick to avoid whoever's attention they were about to attract. He held onto his claymore in its sheath, casting a hush and hidden body spell, then took Toriel by the hand and started leading her to the grass.

"L… what-" He got her into the grass and managed to get her to hide, her black cloak doing the job nicely. His stealth spells worked well also, hiding his eye-catchingly bright armor and metallic footfalls from perception. The steps were about to crest just above, and Toriel now understood what was happening. L looked up…

He saw a flash of blue and a knight standing above, wielding what looked to be a glowing blue spear. The knight was half in light, and half in dark, a glowing eye visible through the helmet, and what looked like a red plume coming from the back of the helmet. The knight's eye swept across the path they had been walking. The knight kept looking, until eventually they seemed to have given up the search, then backed off, disappearing from view. L and Toriel remained still for a few more minutes before L drew his claymore and took the risk to move out of the grass once his stealth spells wore off, not getting any response from above.

"I think the knight has left… we need to keep moving." Toriel stood up, brushing off the grass off her cloak and the dirt from her knees against the robe. She joined him outside the grass, standing next to him.

Toriel did her best to see what was above them, but all she saw was the light filtering in from one side. "I wonder who that could have been, it seems like they were waiting for us here."

A small yellow blur jumped out of the grass, almost excitedly running around the duo, before it stopped just before them. L noticed it was the kid who was looking at him back in Snowdin, then sheathed his claymore, not wanting to scare him.

The monster kid was looking rapidly between the ridge and L, before finally calming down enough to actually speak once he noticed both L and Toriel looking at him disapprovingly. "Oh, that was Undyne! How do you two not know who she is, she's only the coolest knight in the whole Royal Guard!"

Toriel and L shared a troubled look between each other. L crossed his arms. "So Sans was right, she caught wind of us. I get the suspicious feeling that is not the last time we will be meeting. Anyways, we need to be going." L pointed to the kid with a gauntleted hand. "You, go home. This is not a game, and you should stay out of these tunnels until we have made it through." With an "Awww…" the kid slinked off, almost tripping as he did. But he knew his way around these tunnels, he'd be back. There's no way he was going to not see what was going to happen between the two knights!

L watched the kid walk back the way they had came, and once convinced the child had left, he and Toriel continued further into the waterfall area.

As they walked, Toriel noticed just how on edge L was after the first encounter, his hand jumped to his sword at echoes of his own armored footsteps, thinking them to be Undyne's- She stopped him and set her hand on his plated shoulder, getting his undivided attention. She needed to make sure he was thinking straight, he must be remembering his battles on the surface... "L. You need to calm down. Undyne is another soldier in Asgore's plot, but she is not going to be nearly strong enough to hurt you. And if you are worried about me… do not be. Monsters do not hurt monsters. Just… try to think about a way to defeat her if you two fight that will not kill her. Remember how fragile monsters are in your presence, whatever plan you make, I will be sure to stay out of the way if it worries you. Please… just do not hurt her, she is just another monster convinced of Asgore's plan."

L looked to the ground at Toriel's pleading yet strict gaze, his hand slid from his claymore, and he slowly buttoned the straps on its sheath over the handguard to keep him from quickly pulling it- a mechanism of the sheath he had never used. "...I… I apologize, I was just having… scarring memories involving plume-helmed spear-wielders. I do not think disarming her is an option, she seemed to summon her weapon like Papyrus, only much quicker. Striking her is not an option… maybe if I ran? I am highly agile, and I doubt she is as fast as me. I have been wearing armor for hundreds of years-"

Toriel smiled at him. He's still willing to use her peaceful tactics. "Good… if we get into a confrontation, outrun her. I am sure she will tire before you, you could probably run her into exhaustion if you needed to." Toriel gave the warrior a hug, and he returned it, his head resting on hers.

"Thank you for keeping my head clear, Toriel. I can get through this without hurting. I just need to keep in mind that this place is not the same as the world above…" L held her closer, deepening the embrace. Eventually the two separated and kept walking, this time holding hands and taking it slow and steady.

As she walked, Toriel looked around the caverns around her, recalling memories. The occasional twinkling rock in the wall reminded her... "I do remember passing through these falls, long ago… it is actually very beautiful ahead. Just wait until you see it, you will know what I mean, L."

For a few moments, L was silent. "...There is actually one place in my world where I go for peace, a massive, sprawling underground lake, where great trees grow up from the water, and support much of the land above… a place called Ash Lake. There is a single dragon who lives there, a peaceful one. It simply… sits in its nest. I visit it from time to time, I like to sit before it when I tire of fighting…"

The duo's next "obstacle" was a simple puzzle involving flowers that only bloom into a bridge if there's four in a row on water, but the bodies of water they needed to bridge were only ankle deep and weren't flowing even nearly fast enough to warrant trying to rely on flowers to cross them. The second time the flowers were needed, they simply stepped across the gap. Was this here for smaller monsters…? A doorway on the northern edge of the wall lead them to the next area…

L looked up, and he saw glimmering stone far above, the cavern had become incredibly tall, the twinkling rocks were set all across the ceiling of the cavern, shining like stars. The ironic thing was, this was the closest thing to a starry night L could remember seeing, the night of beasts was pitch black and starless. Toriel spotted a familiar blue flower, and L saw a sign on the wall which read "WISHING ROOM."

Toriel touched the flower, remaining silent near it, causing a voice to echo from the plant. "A long time ago, monsters would whisper their wishes to the stars in the sky. If you hoped with all your heart, your wish would come true. Now, all we have are these sparkling stones on the ceiling…

The two kept walking, holding hands once more as they looked at the "stars" above. When they'd pass by a flower, Toriel would touch it, letting it echo.

"Thousands of people wishing together can't be wrong! The king will prove that."

"C'mon sis! make a wish!"

"I wish my sister and I will see the real stars someday…" That one in particular made L feel sorrow for these people. Even if they got to the surface somehow, the world above never changes time, all they'd see is that accursed sunrise forever.

The end of the hall had a telescope and another flower. Toriel inspected and used the telescope, bringing her eye to the lens and looking around the ceiling with it. L touched the flower, eliciting it to speak. "Ah… seems my horoscope is the same as last week's…"

Toriel remembered the "hidden" wall, but the telescope was a clue as to where it was. She gestured for L to follow her once she spotted the wall ahead. "Hmm? Ah, yes. Let us get going then."

The flower behind him had recorded his gruff voice and continued to play it as the duo continued on through the hidden wall.

...Let us get going…

009


	10. Waterfall Cavern

010

Now that the duo had crossed through the hidden wall's path, water could be heard beneath them, and what sounded like wood creaked beneath L's weight as they walked. A wall ahead was lined with writings, like the "wishing room" ones. As they walked side by side, L read them silently to himself.

"The war of humans and monsters… why did the humans attack? Indeed, it seemed they had nothing to fear… humans are unbelievably strong, it would the soul of nearly every monster just to equal the power of a single human soul… but humans have one weakness. Ironically, it is the strength of their soul. Its power allows it to persist outside the human body, even after death… if a monster defeats a human, they can take its soul. A monster with a human soul… a horrible beast with unfathomable power."

The next marking was an illustration of a creature that looked eerily similar to one of the Four Lords he had fought back in the Void, it almost seemed to be a near outline of one. He had to stop and stare for a moment, wondering just how powerful it could really be. Sure, it had a human soul… but did human souls really go that far for empowering monsters, that one made them strong enough to rival the things above? He doubted it. Soul power is soul power, and these wall markings are most likely out of reference of relativity. If they met the Four Lords…

The markings also put into perspective just what would happen if Asgore or some other monster got a hold of his soul, if that power wasn't just relative.

The wooden boardwalk ended at a raft landing. L let Toriel step on first then took his place at the back of the raft with the oar to guide them across to the other side. The water was deeper here, but shallow enough for L to use the long oar to push off the bottom to guide them. As they were about to land, L went to the front of the raft and met the landing with his boot, softening the impact. He held the raft steady to let Toriel get off, then disembarked as well. They were now on an even longer boardwalk, and this one only went in one direction. Large pillars were to their left, and open darkness and water on their right.

L eyed the pillars, he and Toriel had yet to move. 'The base of the pillars is large enough to walk on…'

A slight flash of blue in the dark caught his eye.

Toriel was about to take the first step, when L put his hand on her shoulder to stop her, causing her to look at him in confusion. "What is the matter, L?"

L let his hand fall from her shoulder. "...I do not like this situation…" L took a step forward. "let me see-" Just as his foot came down, a shining blue spear dropped from above and skewered the planks where Toriel would have been if she walked forward. She stepped back, eyes wide, and L kicked the spear out of the boards and towards a pillar.

L watched the pillar as the spear impaled it. Sure enough, Undyne walked out from behind it, her gauntleted hands raised to summon up more spears.

"Toriel, run! I will block the spears!" She did her best not to hesitate and ran ahead as Undyne began firing off spears at L. He held his shield as three of the magic projectiles raced towards him, and was relieved when they solidly bounced off the reflective silver coated shield. He jogged behind Toriel as she ran, blocking the groups of spears Undyne strafe fired at him from the pillars. Just ahead, the board path was getting twisty, and Toriel looked behind herself to see what was going on… she didn't see the turn coming and fell off, just barely grabbing onto the path in time. L turned when he heard her splash the water, then ran to catch up to her so he could lift her back up onto the path. As he knelt over and took her hands to pull her up, L felt spears tag him in the back and bounce off his armor. He lifted her out of the water and back onto the boards, turning back to Undyne just in time to block the next volley of projectiles. Toriel's soaked robes slowed her down considerably as she kept going, and the twisting path was not helping. L was beginning to get annoyed with Undyne's constant attacks. He reached down to his talisman on his claymore and gripped it, readying a spell that would prevent her from casting. He took his hand from the cloth, a glowing purple aura surrounding it.

"Enough of this!" He hurled the aural orb like a fireball, and it landed against a pillar in front of Undyne. The orb exploded into a vast sphere, catching Undyne inside. She was surprised by the sphere, and tried to counter with more spears… but found herself unable to lob any or summon them at all. She made to angrily yell at the human, but found she had been silenced… both magically, and literally.

L watched as the angry knight shook her fists at him, then became amused as she tried to break a part of the pillar off to throw at him instead, only denting her gauntlets in her efforts. Toriel had gotten far ahead of him, so he ran to catch up to her once more. He wondered how long it would take Undyne to figure out the spell was a radial area of effect only…

Another spear flying overhead answered that well enough… she had also jumped from the base of the pillars over to the path, and was giving chase. Just as he thought he'd have to use a slowing tranquil walk spell, L and Toriel spotted a large area of tall grass ahead.

"You hide in the grass, I have a spell to more effectively blend in." She silently nodded and disappeared into the grass. L watched Undyne's approaching figure as he did the same as Toriel, touching the handle of his claymore and using it to cast a chameleon spell, disguising himself as the tall grass around him as he became just another part of the foliage. He was hidden more towards the beginning of the patch, and watched as Undyne waded into the grassy sea. She was walking about slowly, trying to find him. She seemed to have found something. She raised her hand… and plunged it into the grass. As she raised her hand, L saw….

The monster kid? And he was smiling…

Undyne silently stared at the kid as she held onto him by his face, then gently set him back down in the grass, heading back the way she had came. Once she had gone back down the path plenty a ways, L uncloaked himself and quietly called Toriel's name. She stood up and looked over the grass, seeing him standing tall above it at the entrance.

"How did you hide there?"

"A chameleon spell, I disguised as the grass. It worked quite well this time, it usually gets mixed results… anyways." He made his way over to where the monster kid was, then saw the boy rush out of the grass as he neared his hiding spot.

The boy was excitedly running in circles as Toriel and L got out of the grass, then he couldn't stop himself from joyfully shooting an exclamatory "Whoa, did you see that! Undyne just TOUCHED me! Man, are you… un… lucky?" He noticed L's deadpan look. "Oh yeah… was supposed to stay hidden… woops."

L crossed his arms and gave the kid a stern look of disapproval. "I thought I told you to go back. This is not a place for you to be right now."

Toriel stood next to him and fiddled with her hands, summoning magical flames to dry herself off with while looking at the scuffed and dirtied boy. "Well, he is rather deep into the caverns, making him go back on his own now would be more than irresponsible on our part as adults. Little boy, please stay out of Undyne and L's way, and we will take you back to your parents when we-"

The kid looked panicky at the mention of his parents, and started backing away. "Yo, no way! You two are gonna tell my parents!" Toriel took a step forward to him, and he made to run further into the caverns.

"Wait, no! Little boy, do not-" He ran full sprint, tripping onto his face again, before jumping back up and running again.

"-run." She gave a dejected sigh. "Children never seem to listen to me…"

L stood next to her and gave her an affectionate squeeze on her shoulder. "Do not worry, Toriel. I think he has been here before, he snuck through up to this point. But we should keep an eye on him if we see him again, though… we need to keep moving."

/

Sans was baffled as to how he managed to convince his lazy self to do this, but he had decided to leave Grillby's without finishing his burger. He was just too concerned about what was happening with Toriel and L. He "took a shortcut" into the Waterfall cavern, standing at a junction he'd been to many times before. Most of the times he'd brought a prank telescope… but now? He was just trying to see how Toriel and L were doing. He'd been waiting for a while, when, as usual, that one monster kid ran by him, not paying attention to him at all.

'they'll be here soon.' Just as he expected, he heard metallic footfalls off in the distance He then saw L and Toriel walking close together, the two talking and occasionally brushing up against each other. They stopped their flirting once they noticed him, and instead took on looks of confusion.

'time to put on my trademark statuesque outer appearance.' He changed literally nothing, he was already standing just as always, and had his skeletal smile just as wide as ever. 'perfect.'

L looked at Sans questioningly, then looked behind himself and back again. "Sans…?"

'yup, that's my name, don't wear it out." He winked at the human, then leaned on the wall behind him. "so, how's the waterfall cavern treatin' ya? you two run into undyne?"

Toriel and L shared a look, then L addressed Sans' question. "..Yes, twice now. The second time she was lobbing glowing blue spears at me. Sans… how did you get-"

Sans interrupted him with a shrug. "shortcuts, pal, i know my way around better than most."

"Shortcuts…? Would you mind enlightening us on these shortcuts? Because everyone except us seem to know them."

Sans shifted against the wall. "nah, i wouldn't mind… if you had 50000 gold on ya." L swore he saw the that the skeleton's smile had became even more mirthful at his expense.

"I will just take that as a no, then."

Toriel felt like addressing the elephant in the room. "Sans, is there any particular reason why you felt like coming this deep into the Waterfall cavern?"

"nah, not really. i was thinking of starting a telescope business, but i only have this one prank telescope that leaves a purple spot on your eye when you look through it… but i forgot to bring it. after that, i just felt kinda like…" His eye sockets narrowed a little, making him look amused, as if he were about to…

"chillin."

Toriel was helpless to stop the little snort and laugh that followed once she realised Sans' pun. L smirked a bit, but he was still a little wary of Sans.

Toriel finally managed to recover from the laughing fit. "Well, it has been nice seeing you Sans, but we must keep going. Who knows what Undyne will be setting up ahead for poor L here if we do not hurry."

The two started moving forward again, L brushing his arm against Toriel's once more.

'yeah, be seeing you, tori…'

/

Just ahead of where they met with Sans, the duo found themselves in a room with near crystalline blue glowing water, the light from luminescent crystals in the water's bed shining up and out, illuminating the area in a brilliant blue hue. L's silvery armor caught the light, making the armor appear to be a reflective blue. Cat-tails sprouted from the water, and odd looking trees grew on what land there was. Small bio-luminescent blades of grass were underfoot. Toriel wasn't wrong about what she said earlier…

"Toriel, it is just like you said... this is incredible-"

Toriel grinned at L's amazed look, then drew closer to him as they went across small bridges and spots of land in the water. L took the chance to wrap his arm around her to pull her in close.

"- it is almost as beautiful as you are…" She smiled up at him and could feel herself warming at the heartfelt compliment.

"Thank you, L… you look quite handsome as well, your armor even shines like the water does…"

The two had unwittingly passed a pair of echo flowers, which began to quietly replay their conversation.

They had crossed many bridges and paths, eventually coming to a way through the grandly shining ponds and waterfalls. There was another wall marking next to it…

"The power to take their souls. This is the power that the humans feared."

After passing the chilling historical piece, the duo kept on the path. Now they were walking on a narrow strip of land, which was surrounded on both sides by slightly fainter glowing water. As they traversed the path, a shifting in the water caught their attention. They watched as a large, bulbous head broke the water's surface and stared at them with its shifty eyes as they held hands. The thing hadn't shown its mouth, but they could see a blush on its face. They awkwardly kept walking as it continued to stare at them silently before it dove back under the water when they neared the exit out of the room.

Toriel gave a rather blank look at the room they had just left. "I do not recall seeing that monster in here last time I passed through." L gave a shrug, he had seen stranger things.

Far stranger things.

The duo turned around and noticed they were now in a circular room featuring a column of water flowing straight down into a hole in its center. L also took note of a fishlike monster sitting in one of the corners of the room, hiding its face. The two decided not to bother the shy monster, and instead they inspected a more recent looking wall marking on the other side of the room.

L read the marking aloud. "The northern room hides a great treasure…" L was eerily reminded of the messages left by other undead, usually meant to trick others into traps or dangerous areas. He looked to Toriel. "Should we check the room?"

Toriel looked like she was remembering this room… "No. There is something there that should be left to rest."

"Fine by me, let us continue on." The two took the east path, opting to leave the "Great treasure" to rest.

In reality, it was not a treasure, but something left in remembrance of a lost angel, a child's first and favorite shiny red ball, untouched since they boy's mother locked it away when she last passed through here…

More wall markings awaited them in the east path. "This power has no counter. Indeed, a human cannot take a monster's soul. When a monster dies, its soul disappears. And an incredible power would be needed to take the soul of a living monster… there is only one exception. The soul of a special species of monster called a 'Boss Monster'. A Boss Monster's soul is strong enough to persist after death… if only for a few moments. A human could absorb this soul. But this has never happened. And now it never will."

The two kept going. Just ahead, there was a statue, sitting in light against the wall, water drops falling from above, eroding it away… Toriel recognised this statue, and she sadly realised it wasn't working anymore. She did not tell L about her past with the statue and "treasure." The two walked on, L passing the statue without any knowledge as to what it was.

Another memorial left by a child's parent, this one meant to play a magical music box from inside, a music box which played a tune the mother would play on her piano for her young son… it was special, it was his song. It had been damaged by the rain, and no longer worked.

Toriel fought back tears at the defacing of her memorials to Asriel. She was brought from her sadness when L opened up a red umbrella over her, she looked at the umbrella, then noticed a bin with a bunch of them, all waiting to be used.

L held it above both himself and her, giving her a warm smile. "Would you walk with me in the rain, miss?" Toriel felt the tears subside. She had new happiness. "I would, good knight." She allowed him to sweep her to his side and bring his cloak and the umbrella over her, and then they slowly walked down the raining corridor, their warmth and love flowing freely for the other to feel.

The walk through the raining corridor went without incident, and they walked out of a break in the Waterfall cavern, leading to the main Underground cavern. In the distance, they could see the Castle and its surrounding city of New Home, with large shining stones high above. It looked to be a peaceful night over a castle and its town, stars twinkling above…

Toriel and L stood taking in the view for a while, holding each other close. L could feel himself growing to like this place more and more, even if it had no true light, this world below his had lead him to discovering beauty again.

And he held the most beautiful find of all within his arms underneath a starry sky.

010


	11. Secret technique

A/N: So… Fallout 4 happened, and I haven't slept in the past two days. BUT, I have stayed up until 2 in the morning on a school night to make an extra long chapter in recompense! Enjoy! Also, wow, this is getting way more attention than I thought it would.

011

Toriel and L stood and embraced at the break in the cavern, thinking of what the future could hold for them, and how things would be. When they end Asgore's plan to get through the barrier, what would life for them be like? Where would they go now that the Ruins were sealed? How would the people of the Underground feel, knowing that the surface was even worse than life down here? How would Asgore react to L and Toriel being in a relationship…?

The two decided that they could cross those bridges together once they needed to.

After they had spent some more time just enjoying the view and each other's company, the duo felt it was time to keep moving, and they found another entry into the caverns just to the east of their spot. A receptacle for umbrellas conveniently awaited them just inside. And right after that, there was a steep ledge that L easily climbed onto.

He held a gauntleted hand down for Toriel to grasp. "Do you need a hand getting up, love?"

She daintily took it, humoring the undead. "Oh, no… But I certainly do appreciate your gentlemanly mannerisms." L got the message that she'd be able to lift herself up with her magic, but he held her hand as she did so, fluidly transferring into a walk with her, still holding her hand. More wall markings were on the walls ahead…

"The humans, afraid of our power, declared war on us. They attacked suddenly and without mercy… in the end, it could hardly be called a war. United, the humans were too powerful, and us monsters, too weak. Not a single soul was taken, and countless monsters were turned to dust…"

L knew for sure he had no part in this ancient war, yet he still felt…guilt? Yes, guilt is what he felt. He felt shame at the actions of his kind… although he was one to speak, he only existed up until this point by snuffing out the existences of others. But was it really the same…? Was he as bad as his predecessors? They had attacked an innocent race, a near genocide… true, he killed, but was it in the same scope as his ancestors' atrocities? Toriel accepts and loves him, even though she knows he has done terrible things just to survive the surface… that made him feel like he was personally redeemed, if someone as kind and pure as Toriel could find it in her capacity to love even someone like himself…

He was so absorbed in his thoughts he hadn't noticed the loud creaking that was now sounding underfoot as he walked. Toriel finally broke him from his trance, concern lacing her voice.

"L… I am not certain these thin boards will support your armor's weight…"

L looked down, noticing they were standing on what seemed to be suspended wooden boards all nailed together at the sides.

L's eyes boggled as he looked down, amazed he hadn't fallen through yet. "What kind of fool designed this path…?" As he inspected the wooden path, a blue glow on the boards just ahead appeared. Then another… and another… they were surrounded by the blue glows.

L's eyes suddenly flashed in recognition. 'No! not here!'

He gave a panicked look to Toriel. "Get away-!" Just as he uttered the words, the glows flashed and magic spears replaced them, two jutting up and bending away against his armor, one slicing at Toriel's right arm, ripping her cloak and robe's sleeves, the rest of them missing. Once the spears vanished, L looked below, spotting Undyne beneath them on a lower path.

He could feel anger bubbling.

He had never felt like this before. As a shell, he'd experienced next to nothing in emotion, but now he could feel a burning red rage building. Undyne had hurt Toriel, she was actually bleeding from her arm as she held the injured limb. L wanted to smash through the boards that held him up so he could get down to Undyne then give her a piece of his mind. He was about to do something rash when more glows appeared, and Toriel reacted by running back to the start of the path, shouting "Run, L!"

L would have to continue on alone for now. Undyne would certainly not have this go unmentioned though. That was a given.

L broke off into a sprint down the path, his acceleration actually damaging the boards beneath him as he went, sending splinters every which direction with each thundering-armored step. He ran full tilt even as the path began to split and change direction, he'd put on the breaks with his cleat-like boots when needed, then keep going. He had no clue which direction was correct, but he knew Undyne wasn't even able to keep up on the straighter lower path beneath his. She was definitely newer to armor than him. She had totally given up even trying to spear him a while ago, and she was slowing down her attempts to run after him.

Suddenly a wide expanse of boards opened up ahead. He tore across this too, finding his way to one of the branching paths. The path came to an abrupt stop…

He ground to a halt, looking over the edge, seeing nothing but dark below. "Really, who made this path!?" He turned and was about to run back, when he noticed Undyne standing at the start of the branched path. She looked rather tired, and quite irate if her body language was anything to go on. She lifted her hands up, and with great effort, brought them back down with force and what seemed to be an air of finality. L was confused until a wave of blue spears fell from the dark above, slicing through the weak boards between the two. L's immense weight then broke off the section of path after the cut, resulting in him falling into the dark below. There was nothing he could do. So he simply let himself plummet.

The end of his fall came strikingly quick… he felt like he'd done this before.

/

Dark again. Just like after the flower attacked me. I need to…

"It sounds like it came from over here…"

What? Who's voice… was that a child?

"Oh! You've fallen down, haven't you…"

What…?

"Are you okay?"

What is happening!?

"Here, get up…"

…?

"...Characas, huh? That's a nice name. My name is-"

/

L's eyes suddenly bolted open, somehow fully awake again. A name floated on his mind… "Asriel…"

How had he experienced that? Why had he dreamt of Characas and Asriel? He made to get up, but a familiar feeling was beneath him. With one gauntleted hand, he felt at the ground beneath him, then pulled some of the material up and to his eyes…

'Flowers… again…?'

L placed the flowers back into their places, standing. Once again, he'd landed in a bed of golden-yellow flowers…

'Something is happening here. I understand symbolism when I can see it, I can tell this is no coincidence.' He brushed off his cloak while looking up at where he had fallen from, seeing, as usual, nothing but dark. He worried about Toriel, how would they meet up? In fact, he had no clue where he was. A look around himself revealed he was in a closed off area, a waterfall and walls creating a linear path to go. So he walked.

The ground beneath was flooded over, soggy, and covered in broken walkway planks. It reminded him of the swampy forests he'd been to in the past. His boots sank quite a bit with each step, but he kept moving to not get stuck. At least it wasn't as bad as Blighttown, the swamp there has diseased fumes roiling above, the smell alone can make a living person violently ill. Compared to that, this was a walk across a castle courtyard. As he kept going through the wet area, he noticed what seemed to be a cloth training dummy. He didn't feel like trifling with it, so he kept walking, not giving the dummy a second glance as he passed.

A voice came from behind him. "Yeah, that's right keep walkin'. You don't want any of this!" L turned to see it was the dummy that had spoken. It had become animate and was now floating around, with big angry eyes that glared at him.

L could only give a deadpan look at the mannequin, he was not impressed. "...Still not the strangest or most horrifying thing I have experienced. Who or whatever you really are, mimic, monster, what be you… I do not have time for this. I must be on my way."

"HEY. DON'T YOU WALK AWAY FROM…" The dummy didn't get anything else out before L simply kept walking, totally ignoring him as he went into the next room. "...me. Ah, who needs enemies, I have knives…" The dummy looked down, noticing he only had one knife. "Dammit."

The next room was thankfully unflooded, however, it branched off in quite a few directions. L decided to check these branches in a clockwise pattern, starting with the one on his immediate left. This path led to a small… bird. Chicken? Duck? He wasn't sure. The bird kept trying to grab his hood and seemed to want to lift him up. After the bird gave up, L decided to leave it be. The next path lead to an oddly fishlike house. The path after that, a duo of oblong homes that mirrored each other. The next few ways were connected to that, and they featured an odd collection of fences and snails…

In the end, the final way available seemed to be the correct choice. Going this way led him to an intersection, with a way to go in three directions. Following his previous pattern, he checked the leftmost one first.

He ducked through a small door frame in the cave wall, which opened up to a cramped chamber filled with glowing rocks inlaid in the walls, stalagmites, and stalactites. A monster who looked to be a turtle in some form of tan outfit was examining the far wall. L decided he didn't wish to bother the monster, he seemed quite busy. And besides, L needed to keep going. He left the room, and checked the path opposite to the turtle's room, seeing that it abruptly ended at a still and peaceful river, unflowing.

Once again, he had one last way to go, and it was unsurprisingly the correct way.

'Is everything in this place to the east or west…?'

Not only was it the final path, but it was the path that had more wall markings. It must be the way forward if that was any indication.

"Hurt, beaten, and fearful for our lives, we surrendered to the humans. Seven of their greatest magicians sealed us underground with a magic spell. Anything can enter through the seal, but only beings with a powerful soul can leave."

'This means that even if Asgore does not destroy the barrier… what lies above may get in here regardless. This is far more perilous than I thought it was…'

"There is only one way to reverse this spell. If a huge power, equivalent to seven human souls, attacks the barrier, it will be destroyed… but this cursed place has no entrances or exits. There is no way a human could come here. We will remain trapped down here forever."

'These marking must be before the time of Asgore's plot then, six humans have already fallen to him…'

Just ahead, the cavern darkened immensely and he could see nothing, save some paths of glowing plants and mushrooms. He decided not to rely on them, instead he unsheathed his claymore and casted a light spell to illuminate his own way forward. After wandering about keeping the area around him lit, he found a way forward. His light shone on a wall marking, and he stopped to read it.

"Without candles or magic to guide them Home, the monsters used crystals to navigate."

'It is a good thing I have light magics then…' He continued on, noticing faint purple glows around him. Eventually, he found his way out of the purple glowing area and found himself in a corridor. He could see an echo flower's blue outline ahead…

He brushed his hand across its petals, eliciting an unfamiliar woman's voice to venomously whisper from it. "Behind you." The corridor slowly brightened and he turned around to find Undyne standing and staring at him through her helm. He stared back, standing unperturbed by the shorter monster knight. For a moment, the whole of the world seemed to have become silent, until…

"Seven. Seven human souls. With the power of seven human souls, our king, King Asgore Dreemurr… will become a god. With that power, Asgore can finally shatter the barrier. He will finally take the surface back from humanity… and give back the suffering and pain we have endured."

Like Toriel said, just another monster convinced of Asgore's plan. "Undyne. You follow your lord's command, and I commend you for your honor in his service. But respectfully… you, your people, and your king, are horribly misinformed. The surface is lost. Mankind already suffers a vicious cycle of undeath and rebirth, and beings you should hope you never lay eyes upon have taken dominion above. Your king's… plan, plot, idea, what have you, will only lead to your destruction."

Undyne summoned up a large spear and got in an aggressive stance. "You're lying! You only want to try and save yourself from our vengeance, but I, Undyne, will strike you down and take your soul so that Asgore will lead us out of the Underground! Now, enough running! Get ready to defend yourself!"

L needed to show her just how vain her attempts to fight really were… he stuck his blade tip first into the dirt to stand it up then took a few steps forward, opening his arms aside and lifting his chin ever so slightly. "Then make your attack! Strike me down now, if you think you can defeat me!"

Undyne was getting angry, she thought this knightly human would put up a fight. "You aren't taking me seriously, are you?! FINE!" With a yell, she ran at the human, spear aimed for his chest. He did not move an inch as she thrusted the magical weapon at his chestpiece, striking him and his soul. A gasp issued from a patch of grass that neither had been paying attention to.

She was jarringly stopped dead in her tracks as soon as she made impact, as if she had struck a great wall. It felt like she had slammed her spear solidly into him… but… she had done practically nothing to him, his armor, or his soul. 'How…? What! That's impossible!' She looked up as L stared down at her, unmoved.

"Is that it? Is that all the greatest of Asgore's Royal Guard has to offer in response to my challenge? You would not last even ten seconds in the world above…"

Undyne growled angrily through her helmet in response, then jumped back and prepared to attack once more. "My form was just off! Here it comes, for real-!" Before she could make it to L, the yellow shape of the monster kid darted out from the tall grass, right in the way, causing Undyne to halt dead in her tracks.

The boy stood as tall as he could, eyes closed as he shouted: "Undyne! I'll help you fight!"

Both L and Undyne stared in disbelief at the child. Undyne dispelled her spear and grabbed the boy by the cheek before dragging him off into another corridor as he complained.

L watched them go, noticing them take a path he had not noticed when it was dark. "That boy is going to be in quite the trouble… he is lucky Undyne stopped her attack." He shook his head as he retrieved his claymore and cleaned the tip, replacing it in its sheath and relatching the safety over it. He decided going the way the boy and Undyne went would be best, since once again, it was his only choice. It was flooded, but more echo flowers awaited him.

"...hmm… if I say my wish, you promise you won't laugh at me?"

"Of course I won't laugh!"

"Someday, I'd like to climb this mountain we're all buried under. Standing under the sky, looking at the world all around… that's my wish."

Laughter… "Hey, you said you wouldn't laugh at it!"

"Sorry, it's just funny… that's my wish too."

After the echo flowers, a wall marking…

"However… there is a prophecy. The Angel, The One Who Has Seen The Surface… they will return. And the Underground will go empty."

'There is certainly something larger afoot here… this… "Angel," I can only wonder who has seen the surface, yet did not return-'

Asriel?

L recalled everything Toriel told him of her passed biological son. He had been to the surface, and he succumbed to his wounds shortly thereafter- but how would he return to the Underground? Would he be resurrected in some way? Why had L dreamed of Toriel's children?

'Surely Toriel must know of this prophecy… has she not made the connection that it may be her own son that it speaks of…?' his thoughts were cut short when he saw that his path had become a narrow plank bridge that spanned the gaps in the sections of walkable cave floor, large drop offs were on all sides here. He slowly walked out onto the alarmingly small bridge, and was about to make it to the other side…

"Yo!"

"I cannot believe this…" L carefully turned to the voice, seeing the monster child standing a ways away from him. The boy slowly walked over to him, stopping just before him and looking up at him.

"Yo… I know I'm supposed to go home, but… Undyne said you're a human and that… she said… if you go any further, you'll hurt a lot of people. Yo, you don't hurt monsters, do you? You and that lady are friends, aren't you?" L simply gave the boy a nod. "Yeah! You don't hurt monsters, you're friends with one! Man, I don't think Undyne knows that. I bet if she did, she wouldn't think about you so bad! Well… I think I'm gonna go home now."

"That would be best. You almost got yourself hurt last time. Get going." His voice was not scathing, but it was stern. The kid didn't argue and started walking the way he had come.

And of course, he tripped, again. This time on a narrow bridge.

The boy fell over the edge, and having no arms, gripped onto the boards with his teeth.

L was shocked the boy had managed to be so clumsy as to trip while walking on such a precarious bridge, and made to assist him when Undyne walked out of the corridor he and the boy had come from. She stared at L through her helm as he slowly made his way to the fallen boy, and she tensed as L got to the boy and carefully took a knee and reached down to pull him up one-handed. L let the boy regain his footing before standing up himself. Undyne took a step towards the two, and the monster boy took one in return.

"Y-yo! Undyne! He's not bad! If you wanna hurt him, you're gonna have to get through me, first."

L could tell from her stance after that exchange that Undyne was shocked. She seemed taken aback at what had just happened, then slowly backed up, before walking off into the passage before the bridge. Once she was gone, the boy gave a sigh and looked back up to L.

"Man… I really gotta go… my parents must be worried sick about me! Later, dude!" The kid then ran off into the passage, somehow not tripping as he went.

"Finally… I can only hope he is not lying." L wasted no time in getting off the alarmingly small bridges. Once he had cleared them, the cavern seemed to open up once again, a red glow visible in the cracks of the cavern wall, and a tall mound of angular rocks with an opening in them. He looked up to find that somehow, Undyne had not only gotten ahead of him, but she was stood atop the tall mound, her back to him.

"Seven. Seven human souls, and King Asgore will become a god. Six. That's how many we have collected thus far. Understand? Through your seventh and final soul, this world will be transformed." She had now turned and was looking down on him through her glow-eyed helm.

L shook his head up at her."You fail to understand the gravity of the situation at hand- even if you could take my soul, Asgore cannot be allowed to make your people known to what lies on the surface, it will only bring ruination you all. What I am doing is what is best for monsterkind..."

She pointed a gauntlet down at him. "How can you say that, as a human? One of the very race that sealed us down here! Our ruler knows what's best, not some-"

"...and I am not alone in my endeavor. The previous queen, Toriel, has been accompanying me throughout my journey so far. In fact, this is wholly her quest to begin with, she is the one who wishes to prevent Asgore from destroying the barrier, she is the one who you hurt with that ambush you set for me on the bridges, and she is the one whom I have made a promise to, a promise to not harm any monster I meet."

"Why should I trust that promise?! And so what if you've got the past queen on your side, Asgore's the current king, and I follow his orders! Not the ones from a… traitorous monster and her human friend! I mean look at you! How could you not try to hurt something with a sword that big…!" 'I know I would want to…!'

"You may think me a beast, a horrible human… but trust in me when I say it… the rest of my kind are in a far worse condition than I, and you should do all in your power to not expose your people to them. I ask you now, one warrior to another, do not stop me further. If you do… I will be cornered and will have to resort to a… secret technique… in order to defeat you."

"A secret technique? So that means you'll actually fight!" Undyne tossed her helmet off, revealing that her "plume" was in fact her hair. Her head and face were somewhat humanoid-fishlike, and she wore an eyepatch over her left eye. "You! You're standing in the way of everyone's hopes and dreams! Alphys' history books made me think humans were cool… with their giant axe-golems and flowery swordswomen. But you! You're just a coward! You just keep running, and you hid behind that kid when I messed up that spear attack and on the bridge, just so you could run away from me again! And let's not forget your wimpy-goody-two-shoes-promise-schtick! Oh! I'm making such a difference by ignoring all my awesome gear and being a coward in the face of danger! You know what would be more valuable to everyone? IF YOU WERE DEAD! That's right human! Your continued existence is a crime! Your life is all that stands between us and our freedom! Right now, I can feel everyone's hearts pounding together! Everyone's been waiting their whole lives for this moment! But we're not nervous at all. When everyone puts their hearts together, they can't lose!"

L couldn't help but laugh at this. She was so stubborn and aimed at her goals. Just like his old friend, Solaire… But reality had to come in some time to reveal the illusion. L's laughter reached Undyne, and she grinned angrily.

"WHAT'S SO FUNNY?!"

"The fact… that you have the drive to do this… when in reality you have lost long ago. After the seventh human, the surface fell into chaos! There is nothing for your kind there! And you call me a human, you say I should die… well, I am not human! I am undead! Like the rest of my kind, I have died countless times! I have become something different… something less, yet more, in some twisted sense. We have lost our humanity, and have been more than punished for what we did to you long ago… leave the surface be!"

"NGAAAAH! Enough of your lies, human, whatever you are! Let's end this, right here, right now. I'll show you how determined monsters can be!" Undyne summoned up a spear like before and leapt from the rocks above, landing right before L in a combat stance.

L got ready as well, but did not draw his claymore or unback his shield. "Very well… I, L, will gladly show you my secret technique!" He reached down to his pouch on his belt and pulled a clump of green blossomed moss from it, then munched on the herb.

Undyne gave the man a sideways look. "Why are you eating a-" Before she could finish that thought, L took off in a dead sprint right past her into the break of the cavern, the speed of which she had never seen before.

"HEY! THIS IS YOUR SECRET TECHNIQUE?!" She ran after the man, not nearly as fast as he was. How was he not tiring from this? She could just barely see him by the time they came to the "WELCOME TO HOTLAND" sign.

"COME BACK HERE YOU PUNK!" She poured on the speed, just barely able to stay on her feet.

'How can he run in armor like this?!'

The man had ran right past Sans, who was "sleeping" at another one of his posts. Undyne would have stopped to wake and berate the skeleton, but she noticed L had stopped running ahead, and was looking at her. She had to keep going. She made to run at him, then she felt it. The heat, and her physical wall. She hates heat… this won't end well.

Undyne slowly walked, tired and sapped by all the sheer heat radiating from the lava below. "Armor… so hot… so tired… but I can't give up…" She collapsed literally two seconds after saying this.

L and a… clam… oyster... man (?) were standing and staring at the fallen royal guard. The clam man was standing next to a water cooler. He slowly reached for a cup stacked on it, filled it, then handed it to L. L silently and contemplatively looked between the cup of water and Undyne, before promptly turning the cup over and spilling it all over her head. After a few moments, she shot up to her feet. She looked around for a second, then to L and the clam man, before she just decided to walk off.

As Undyne left Hotland, the clam man looked at L. "O, k, k, k, k, what was that about?"

L did not look at the odd clam/oyster person. "It is a rather complicated and… lengthy… story."

"Whatever ya say pal."

011


	12. Newfangled

A/N: Hooray for Fallout 4 sapping all my time!

012

After Undyne left and L had regained his stamina after the sprint, he didn't hesitate to get going… and get away from the odd clam person, who had decided to stand at the edge of the piece of land they were on and stare out at the lava. After that, L simply felt it necessary to leave the odd monster be. Just ahead he could see a massive pure white building that was a near perfectly rectangular shape. Various pipes jutted out of the building in certain places, only to re-enter it in some other area. As L got closer, he also noticed a duo of large, burly black armored knights blocking one of the paths just before the building. The unblocked path led to another river access, which was odd to say the least. Why did these need to be so common…?

L decided to try his luck in the building, seeing as the knights weren't even acknowledging him and instead did their best to act like he wasn't there. When he tried to speak with them, the squat-helmed one on the left nearly said something, but the tall-helmed one poked his plated left arm, getting silence and an odd reaction from the other knight. L felt it would be too frustrating to deal with more knights in a way he was unused to anyways, so he proceeded to the building that had been identified as a "Lab." He had to stop at the door, just to stare for a moment.

'Where is the doorknob? Or anything for that matter…?' He walked up to try and see if there was any way to push it open, but instead, the door slid apart and into the frame's sides, all on its own. The strange door led L to assume it must have been more monster-made magic, and he walked through.

The inside of the building was dark, but not too dark to see where to walk. Vague, dark shapes were all throughout and close to the walls. Humming mechanical noises could be heard, muffled by his loud and metallic footsteps on the tile underfoot. A massive… mirror… sat against the wall, showing what seemed to be an image of L himself looking into it from a different perspective. Continuing past the odd mirror… he heard another door like the one he'd walked through open, and light, bare footsteps against the tiles sounded ahead. Fingers snapped…

Light flooded the building rapidly, causing L to shield his eyes with his hands, groaning as he did so.

"Oh. My God. I didn't expect you to show up so soon! I haven't-"

L managed to uncover his eyes once they adjusted to the somewhat harsh light and he got a look at just who was panicking so much. The monster before him was quite… different. She was short, the kid from earlier would have been almost as tall as her. She seemed lizard-like in appearance, sporting yellow scales. He had never seen attire like hers, she wore a spotless white coat and a pair of thin spectacles covered her eyes. She had begun to look around herself in a final fit before eventually calming down enough to actually address L.

She was rather nervous and seemed fidgety. L took a more relaxed stance, seeing she was jumpy at his presence. She gulped quite visibly and nearly audibly before speaking, and gave the large man a rather awkward smile. "Uh… H-hiya! I'm Dr. Alphys… Asgore's royal scientist…" She caught L's eyebrow rising at the mention of the king, she quickly decided to add on to her statement. "I-I'm not one of the "bad guys!" I've been watching you and Toriel on my console over there ever since you left the Ruins, so I know everything! I know about your guys's plan, your friends, how you've been dealing with people, I even saw a little bit of your last encounter with Undyne, but something needed my attention…"

"Everything? And you know Toriel and I intend to tell Asgore to end his plan… then I must ask you, why would you trust me at all? What makes you wish to go against your king, and instead take a neutral stance?"

"Ah, well… everyone has been waiting for a human, including myself… but we always thought they'd be some evil or dangerous person who'd want to hurt us! But you seem like a nice guy, and you haven't hurt anyone… but the first time I saw you, in your armor with that huge sword, I was scared! And then you met that skeleton, Sans… well, to put it short, once you watch someone on a screen, you really start to root for them. You're also just like one of the knights out of the old human history books we have! I wanted to ask you about that, by the way… why are you all dressed up like an old-timey human knight? The books we have on them date human royal knights to almost a thousand or so years old, and according to my findings in humans, I'd suspect you would have advanced much further thanks to your physically focused lives… does it have to do with why we shouldn't go to the surface?"

L crossed his arms at the inquisitive reptile. "I thought you would have known why. Perhaps you never heard the explanation at length… I did attempt to tell Undyne, but she would not have any of it."

Alphys fidgeted a bit. "Yes, I heard you say something about dying and it threw me off… can you explain?" L gave a nod.

"Quite a long time ago… maybe a thousand years now, if what you say is accurate… what is for sure is that when this happened would have been after the human before me fell down here. In short, chaos took over. At first, a curse that came to be called the "Death Mark" fell upon us… it threw our great kingdom into insanity and civil war, people began attacking and killing each other, I will spare you further details, it is not pleasant to describe. Not long after, new beings appeared, as if like plants seeded… they were the giants. They threatened us with their natural power, and then then we had more than the curse to worry about. The war on the giants was largely successful, our soldiers outnumbered them greatly, but it was in vain. Demons and dragons came to be soon after, the demons born of fire and the dragons of stone… they began to decimate the land, destroying anything and everything they pleased. Our armies had been weakened and could barely do anything. The curse began to spiral out of control as the death toll rose. Even the king himself fell to it… Now all of mankind has been marked and is now a mass of immortal shells, the demons and dragons roam free, and the kingdom rots. That would explain why we "have not advanced" as you put it."

L found that Alphys's mouth had practically come loose, she was at a loss for words. A look of understanding came after, and she looked down at the tiles. "Wow… I wouldn't have thought… I'm sorry…"

L shook his head at her and shifted a little. "Do not be. My kind has done terrible things to deserve what has become of us. In a way, I suppose this existence is our recompense for what we did to your people long ago. Now you know. Mankind has fallen, we have been punished already. Asgore need not risk his people by exposing the Underground to what lies above, there is no revenge to be gotten, nor is there a place for monsters above."

Alphys looked less saddened hearing that, but she still seemed conflicted at how to feel. She had decided on one thing, however... "Well… all of that that seals the deal! I want to help you! This needs to reach Asgore, and with my knowledge, I can easily guide you through Hotland! I know a way right into Asgore's castle, no problem… well actually…"

L's eyebrow jumped again. "Yes? Is something the matter?"

Alphys lost her determined look. "Well… remember when I said we thought the next human might want to hurt us? Well… a long time ago I made a robot…" That word confused L to an even greater extent. "Oh yeah, you don't… er… golem? It's like a… metal… machine? Okay, well… his name is Mettaton, and I originally built him to entertain people, you know… like a king's jester?"

L shuddered internally at the mention of jesters, and he swore he could feel the burns he had once endured giving him phantom pains… 'Damn pyromancer jester…' Alphys didn't notice his inner quake and continued.

"Anyway… I recently decided to make him more useful… just some small practical adjustments… like… um… anti-human… combat features. Of c-course, when I saw you coming peacefully, I decided I had to remove those features! Unfortunately, I may have made a teensy mistake while doing so. And… um… now he's an unstoppable killing machine with a thirst for human blood?" She noticed L's rather deadpan look, and her nervous and awkward smile came back. "Ehehehehe… heh. But ummm… hopefully we won't run into him!"

L was about to question her about the robot and just how it was unstoppable (and he was going to tell her that there was nothing truly "unstoppable"), when a loud "CLANG" sounded out. The clang came again, and this time it had force behind it strong enough to shake the building. The next one was strong enough to make Alphys try to regain her footing after it. Clangs issued out rapidly and Alphys panicked, yet again.

"Oh no!"

The lights died out as a crash sounded out from the wall.

An odd and loud voice issued somewhere from the dark. "OHHHH YES! WELCOME, BEAUTIES…" A single light switched on, illuminating a boxy contraption. The thing had a pair of tube-like arms ending in gloves, and a single wheel underneath it. A screen, featuring a red "M" was its main frontal eye-catcher.

"...TO TODAY'S QUIZ SHOW!" A colorful array of lights, confetti, and a large sign stating "GAME SHOW" appeared seemingly out of nowhere and the machine began to play a track of cheering voices. The sudden array shocked L and he stood back a bit, his hand reflexively reaching to his sword's handle.

'What is going on?!'

"OH BOY! I CAN ALREADY TELL IT'S GONNA BE A GREAT SHOW! EVERYONE GIVE A BIG HAND FOR OUR WONDERFUL CONTESTANT!" The machine began clapping its gloved hands and confetti poured onto L, eliciting him to wave his free hand about and try to keep it off of him.

"NEVER PLAYED BEFORE, HANDSOME? NO PROBLEM! IT'S SIMPLE! THERE'S ONLY ONE RULE. ANSWER CORRECTLY… OR YOU DIE!" As the robot's screen flashed bloody red, L shot Alphys an equally questioning and disapproving look, his hand still brushing his claymore. All she could offer in return was her signature awkwardly stressed smile and a shrug.

The robot then somehow summoned up a large screen just above the hole he had made in the wall, and Alphys awkwardly stood by Mettaton, who was now wheeling about and waving to a non-existent audience.

"LET'S START WITH AN EASY ONE! WHAT'S THE PRIZE FOR ANSWERING CORRECTLY?"

Four letters with answers next to them appeared on the screen, and L realized the robot had asked him a question, and those were his only answers. A red 30 began counting down… A: Money, B: Mercy, C: New "Car," D: More questions…

L noticed Alphys made a "D" shape with her hands and he decided he would just go with what she said, she made Mettaton after all, and L had no clue what a "new car" entailed. He also doubted this machine would give him mercy.

He edged his hand off his sword as he answered. "D, more questions."

Mettaton threw up his arms as if in congratulations and Alphys gave L a thumbs up. "RIGHT! SOUNDS LIKE YOU GET IT! HERE'S YOUR TERRIFIC PRIZE! WHAT'S THE KING'S FULL NAME?"

A: Lord Fluffybuns, B: Fuzzy Pushover, C: Asgore Dreemurr, D: Dr. Friendship.

This one was so obvious Alphys didn't even hint L. "C, Asgore Dreemurr."

"CORRECT! WHAT A TERRIFIC ANSWER! NOW, ENOUGH ABOUT YOU, LET'S TALK ABOUT ME. WHAT ARE ROBOTS MADE OF?"

A: Hopes&Dreams, B: Metal&Magic, C:Snips&Snails, D:Sugar&Spice.

These answers were far too ridiculous… L felt B would be best, considering it was the only one that made any sense at all. "B, metal and magic."

"TOO EASY FOR YOU, HUH? HERE'S ANOTHER EASY ONE FOR YOU. Two trains, Train A and Train B, simultaneously depart Station A and Station B. Station A and Station B are 252.5 miles apart from each other. Train A is moving at 124.7mph towards Station B. and Train B is moving at 253.5mph towards Station A. If both trains departed at 10:00AM and it is now 10:08, how much longer until both trains pass each other?"

A: 31.054 minutes, B: 16.232 minutes, C: 32.049 minutes, D: 32.058 minutes.

L's face contorted in utter disbelief and confusion. 'Did Mettaton just… how… what in the name of… what is a train?!' He looked to Alphys solely for this one, he was totally lost. She was indicating it to be D.

"D...?"

"WONDERFUL! I'M ASTOUNDED FOLKS! DON'T COUNT ON YOUR VICTORY… HOW MANY FLIES ARE IN THIS JAR?" The screen then showed an animated image of a jar of flies, all of which were jostling about and totally impossible for L to even hope to keep track of.

A: 54, B:53, C:55, D: 52.

Again, L relied on Alphys. "A, 54." '...How is she capable of answering these…?'

"CORRECT! YOU'RE SO LUCKY TODAY! LET'S PLAY A MEMORY GAME. WHAT MONSTER IS THIS?" The screen showed half the face of one of the frog monsters L had seen in the Ruins.

A: Froggit, B: Whimsun, C: Moldsmal, D: Mettaton.

And Alphys was indicating it to be D. 'Is this a joke, or…?'

"...D, Mettaton…?" The screen zoomed out to reveal a picture of Mettaton wearing a shirt that simply had an image of that monster's face. This was becoming increasingly unfair, yet somehow Alphys kept managing to get him the right answer.

"I'M SO FLATTERED YOU REMEMBERED! BUT CAN YOU GET THIS ONE? WOULD YOU SMOOCH A GHOST?"

'What?!'

A,B,C, and D: Heck yeah. Alphys gave him a look that just screamed "If you get this wrong…"

"A, heck yeah?"

"GREAT ANSWER! I LOVE IT! HERE'S A SIMPLE ONE. HOW MANY LETTERS IN THE NAME METTATON?" The screen then filled up with N's. The answers appeared, only to increase in number themselves. A whole mass of confusion was happening and Alphys simply indicated it to be C. Again, L had to wonder how she could figure out this insanity.

"Er… C?" He wasn't even going to attempt to say that number, it just kept increasing.

"OF COURSE THAT WAS EASY FOR YOU! TIME TO BREAK OUT THE BIG GUNS. IN THE DATING SIMULATION VIDEO GAME "MEW MEW KISSY CUTIE" WHAT IS MEW MEW'S FAVORITE FOOD?"

'...What about my mother?'

Before L could even hope to wonder how he'd answer this, Alphys got excited.

"OH! OH! I KNOW THIS ONE! IT'S SNAIL ICE CREAM! IN THE FOURTH CHAPTER EVERYONE GOES TO THE BEACH! AND SHE BUYS ICE CREAM FOR ALL HER FRIENDS! BUT IT'S SNAIL FLAVOR AND SHE'S THE ONLY ONE WHO WANT IT! IT'S ONE OF MY FAVORITE PARTS OF THE GAME, IT'S ACTUALLY A VERY POWERFUL… message about friendship and…" She had stopped blathering, finally noticing Mettaton waggling a finger at her.

"ALPHYS, ALPHYS, ALPHYS. YOU AREN'T HELPING OUR CONTESTANT ARE YOU?" Alphys gave a guilty look and nervously tried to look away. "OOOOOOH! YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME. I'LL ASK A QUESTION… YOU'LL BE SURE TO KNOW THE ANSWER TO! WHO DOES DR. ALPHYS HAVE A CRUSH ON?" The reptilian monster in question began to nervously shake her hands at L, she wasn't going to tell him the answer.

A: Undyne, B: Asgore, C: The human, D: Don't know.

'…Crush? I very much doubt it would even possibly be me. I will just have to give an answer and hope.' "A, Undyne?" Alphys covered her face in embarrassment, L could see her face had turned a burning red.

"SEE, ALPHYS? I TOLD YOU IT WAS OBVIOUS. EVEN THE HUMAN FIGURED IT OUT. YES, SHE SCRAWLS HER NAME IN THE MARGINS OF HER NOTES, SHE NAMES PROGRAMMING VARIABLES AFTER HER. SHE EVEN WRITES STORIES OF THEM TOGETHER… SHARING A DOMESTIC LIFE. PROBABILITY OF CRUSH: 101%. MARGIN OF ERROR: 1%. WELL WELL WELL. WITH DR. ALPHYS HELPING YOU… THE SHOW HAS NO DRAMATIC TENSION! WE CAN'T GO ON LIKE THIS! BUT… BUT! THIS WAS JUST THE PILOT EPISODE! NEXT UP, MORE DRAMA! MORE ROMANCE! MORE BLOODSHED! UNTIL NEXT TIME DARLINGS…!" Mettaton then folded up his wheel and arms, then rocketed off through the ceiling of the building, leaving a square hole in his wake.

Alphys had recovered from the embarrassment of the final question, and was now nervously looking in L's direction. "...Well that was certainly something…"

L had been silently staring at the Mettaton-shaped hole that had been left in the machine's wake, he had no words that could express what just happened. He lacked the vocabulary and felt rather antiquated in terms of lingo now that he'd been exposed to the robot's quiz and antics. He had a flurry of questions running in his mind…

"I am sorry… did you say something?" He was still staring out through the hole.

"Oh, nothing… so about getting you to Asgore's castle, let's draw you up some plans, I doubt you can use a cell phone."

L finally looked away from the hole and over to Alphys. "A what…?"

Alphys gave a huff. "Exactly."

012


	13. Travel light, it's Another Medium

013

L was currently ambling about Alphys' lab, while the reptile monster herself sat at her incredibly cluttered desk with its smaller monitor to go through various camera feeds and notes on the puzzles of Hotland that she had stashed away. She was attempting to compile as much as she could, she viewed the patterns of the steam-powered launching platforms, the conveyor belts, lasers… she wasn't messing around, what L knows is important.

If she wants start feeling better about herself, making sure her king doesn't royally mess up by getting L's info to him would do it.

L had went up the strange moving staircase on the eastern end of the building and the bookshelves that were now just before him had piqued his interest. He reached out to the first one of the books that caught his eye, the spine was labeled "Known History of Humans, weaponry." He carefully opened the older looking book to a random page and read.

"...for how long we were able to observe humans, we took note of just how adept they were at making weaponry. Whereas many monster weapons are magical and usually spear-like in nature, human weapons are varied and can be incredibly complex in many ways. Humans also have a knack for creating weapons that can be just as simplistic as ours, but are far deadlier due to their physical nature, inflicting numerous types of physical traumas that can't be easily replicated with our magical and soul-damaging weapons. As an analysis of the war, it can easily be seen why we did so poorly. Our attacks were aimed at the incredibly tough souls of the humans, and theirs were aimed at our physically weaker manifested bodies. It is no wonder how they were capable of killing-" L closed the book curtly and replaced it, he didn't want to read much more of that.

L was about to explore around the top floor, but Alphys came up the moving stairs with a binder in her hands. "I got the plans for what's ahead in the Hotland and the Core area. As long as you stick to this, you'll be fine." She held the binder up for the taller human to take, which he took and held under his arm.

"Thank you, Alphys. Once I have made it to the king and convinced him to end his plan, I will make sure to put in how you helped me in this endeavor. I am more than willing to bet Asgore will be quite impressed by your initiative."

Alphys looked more than a little nervous at that, and the attention it implied. "Oh… don't worry about it. Really, just… doing the good thing!" She made sure to try and put on a convincing smile… instead it came out looking awkward and shaky… as usual. The awkwardness was actually transferring to the now shifty-stanced L, somehow. He felt it was time to leave…

"Ah… again, thank you. I will be on my way though, it is imperative that I make it to the king as soon as possible. I will just be going…" Alphys had let her awkward look sink away as she watched L go back down the automatic staircase, which had changed direction when he stepped on it. He opened up the binder and read the first step, that being "Exit lab from east door to get on Core path." He went through the odd sliding door without hesitation this time and found himself out in the heat of Hotland once more, a narrow linear path lied before him. The heat was even stronger on this side of the lab, but he'd been in much worse conditions before. L then started on the path to Asgore. The path was a steep dropoff on either side, and it sharply turned north a little ways away from the lab.

As L walked, he let his mind wander across issues at hand to pass the time.

'I wonder if Toriel will catch up… I cannot go back to see if we can reunite, I need to keep going. This is rather time sensitive, if Asgore does what Toriel thinks he should do, just absorb one of or all the souls and go through the barrier… and he surely has learned of my presence by now. He has guards and townspeople who would report my being here. That could push him to stop procrastinating if he feels threatened, and then it would be the end of the Underground once the beings of the surface find out.' A strange duo of moving paths were ahead. They were going in two opposite directions, so L stepped on the leftmost one and let it carry him onward. Green jets of flame spewed out of copper pipes that were on either side of the moving paths, and smaller copper pipes ran every which way…

Once the set of moving paths ended, another patch of land and another set of far more complex moving paths lay ahead. Once more L stepped onto the one going in the direction he was headed and just went with its snaking movements, doing his best to stay balanced on the winding path underfoot. The end of this one had conveyed him to a series of ramp-like pipes that angled downward and terminated on a path that was even closer down to the magma. A cacophony of constant steam and the grinding of gears and cogs sounded out, mixed with a droning magmatic roil that provided the background to a symphony of machines.

The magma was covered with different jutting sections of separated land, and square plates were built into them. L approached the plate that his section ended with and inspected it. Spurts of barely contained steam were being ejected, and a glowing arrow on the plate was pointing in the direction of another plate that was on a distant piece of path. L gave the binder a look, finding a description for these plates.

"A means of travel across the gaps in the path then… so I have to step on it." L stuffed the binder into his bottomless box for safe keeping, then hesitantly placed his weight on the grated steam plate. It groaned and tried to belch out more steam to relieve the pressure he placed on it, and when it did so the vapor burst outwards in the direction of the adjacent plate, but he went nowhere. He'd felt it trying to force him in the direction, but he was too heavy to be thrown airborne by the plate's release mechanism. He stepped off it and gave a few seconds to figure out a solution. He devised that a change in armor was necessary, even the relatively light silver knight's armor was too heavy.

L took off his bottomless box from his belt and placed it on the ground, then set about removing the armor…

/

With a final "whoosh" of an old hood over his head, L now donned his "new" clothing. He had forgone his armor and opted instead for his oldest gear, which consisted of a light overcoat that sported a thin metal pauldron over the left arm, a pair of thick leather manchettes, pants that sported metal knee plates and boots that featured steel coverings over the top of them. As he got used to the feeling of light armor and clothing, he remembered more. This was what he was wearing when he first died and became undead… he felt over the heart area of the overcoat and felt a tear in the fabric… memory started to rush back in a flood.

/

He had been on a dirt road, it was raining. He was carrying a few logs of firewood he had just bought from the farm down the road. His arms were starting to tire, but he had to get the firewood home before night fell all the way, it would be deathly cold in the winter night with the wind and rain not helping in the matter. He was trudging along the wet, muddy, and slippery path. A sound behind him caught his attention just as he saw his house in the distance, at the treeline just before the forest. He looked behind him, shrugging his hood out of the way to see. The sound was revealed to be the pounding of hooves. A royal soldier was on his horse, he carried a blazing torch that glinted against his armor and fought at the approaching dark of the night. The soldier yelled in his direction…

"You there! Stop!"

L stopped immediately, but he was worried. Did… did they find out that we was Marked?

The soldier rode up next to L and looked down upon him, trying to see past his hood. "Might you be Leontius, son of the late Leopold?"

That is his true name then… Leontius.

Leontius had remained silent. He did not respond and the soldier leaned down a bit from his horse. "Remove your hood so that I can see your face." When Leontius refused to do so, the soldier drew his ornate longsword and pointed it at the defiant man. "Under suspicion of the Mark and the order of the King himself, remove your hood!"

Leontius slowly set down his armload of wood on the wet road and pushed back his hood for the soldier to see. The soldier inspected his face in the torchlight and recognition flashed across it. The soldier quickly dismounted his horse and extinguished the torch, his blade was still drawn. "Leontius, son of Leopold, by order of the King, I have been appointed to be your executioner under grounds of you being a bearer of the cursed Death Mark! For the good of the kingdom, surrender now so that-" Leontius was beginning to panic. He was found out! The soldier still had his sword pointed at him while he blurted out his reasons for needing to kill him. What could Leontius do? He thought about running, but the soldier would simply remount his horse and run him down…

Suddenly the soldier made to thrust at Leontius with his longsword, but he quickly stepped back, nearly losing his footing to the mud beneath in the process. The soldier slowly advanced, the tip of his sword aimed menacingly. The soldier's face was grim and of stone… Another thrust, and Leontius was too late to dodge.

The blade pierced Leontius' thin coat, shirt, and finally his chest, slipped through his ribs, and cut into the vessels just beneath his heart. He fell to the mud, rolling in utter pain. The soldier approached him, and began to drag him from the road. Leontius had lost an egregious amount of blood by the time he felt himself being propped up into a loose sitting position on his knees. He felt wet and terribly cold, and he could hear rushing water far behind and beneath him. He tiredly looked at the soldier, who stood before him, blade pointed at Leontius' heart again.

"We shall send our condolences to your wife, Leontius. This is for the good of the kingdom, we cannot allow the Marked to stay in our lands. Surely… you understand." Leontius could feel his eyes beginning to droop. With a painful push, the soldier made a final stab at Leontius' wounded heart, piercing it directly. As Leontius felt himself go limp, the soldier pushed him off his sword and into the now roaring waters of the river far below. Leontius' final moments were filled with the weightlessness of falling. There was nothing he could do. So he simply let himself plummet.

The end of his fall seemed to have taken an eternity…this was the beginning.

/

Leontius had been feeling at the coat's hole over his heart while he was recalling the memory. He knew his name again. He had a wife… bits and pieces were coming back. He could vaguely recall when he woke up on a beach somewhere down river, he could remember wandering, feeling empty, wanting to find someone to kill to put out the emptiness inside, like snuffing out a fire...

As he pondered his past, Leontius replaced his bottomless box and his claymore on his belt. He was willing to change his armor, but he wasn't quite willing to give up his favorite weapon, even if it was on the heavy side.

The gravity of the knowledge he had regained was beginning to weigh on him. He tried to remember his wife… but nothing on her could be dredged up. The only thing that came of it was warmth at the remembrance of Toriel, and everything about her. Perhaps simply moving on would be best, it seemed those memories had been forgotten for good. Nonetheless, he was glad he'd finally remembered his name, and he now had more about his past that was certain and unfogged.

'Perhaps searching through my box might do me some more good… but that will come later. Now, to keep on the path to Asgore.' Once Leontius had gotten his belt adjusted, he stepped onto the steam plate again. This time, the plate didn't strain nearly as much, and instead launched him across the gap as intended. It was slightly disorienting, but he'd have to get used to it, since he had a few more steam plates and gaps to jump across. He could see another path at the north end of the magma room, so he travelled across the gaps appropriately to get there. He kept the pace going and continued on.

The next obstacle was a set of what seemed to be colored rays of light projecting from orb-like objects. The lights were orange and blue… He once again consulted Alphys' guide, and found them to be defense measures. He'd have to move through the orange lights, and stay still when the blue ones were passing over him, similar to how blue attacks worked. Personally, Leontius felt whoever decided to use them in conjunction should have simply made them work whether an intruder was moving or not… but that was just him.

Passing through them proved a slight amount of a challenge, but now that Leontius was much lighter and quite agile, thanks to his rings and lack of armor, he could stop when needed. The next room was much like the first steam plate room… except for the fact that this one featured a locked door… After consulting the guide, he set about getting across the gaps to the "puzzles" that were on either side, starting with the right. On this side, he noticed two monsters lazing about by sitting on the edge of the land, dangling their legs over it. They had saw him walking by, and looked at him through their odd glasses as he went. Leontius did his best to ignore their looks and instead entered the small building just behind the two monsters. The inside featured a large monitor that was displaying two arrows facing each other, a square, and six other squares inside that square. There was what appeared to be another monster, but he was essentially just a head…

L decided solving the puzzle would be in his best interest. He approached the controls and found a note attached to the side of the panel. "Shoot the opposing ship! Move the boxes to complete your mission." The controls were simple, one lever-type stick that moved all the black boxes, a counter for shots left, and a button that would fire one of the shots. L simply fiddled with the movement stick until there was only one box in the line of fire, then shot it and the "Ship" arrow behind it. The head monster seemed astonished, and began floating up and down somewhat disturbingly.

"Wow! And I kept running out of ammo when I tried! Maybe we'll get to work after all! Thanks!"

Leontius eyed the monster somewhat sideways as he left the building. "You are welcome, I suppose…?" 'How would he have even attempted it… he has no hands.'

He passed by the other two outside, hopped across the gaps once more, and promptly found himself at a slight impasse.

He was now on the left side puzzle area, and there was a blue light blocking his way. There were more monsters here too, but they seemed to have been trapped on the other side by the laser.

What appeared to be a monster made of green flame noticed him and spoke up. "Um, excuse me, but you wouldn't happen to know a way to shut off that laser, would you?"

Leontius shook his head at the monster. He didn't know a way to turn it off, but he could certainly break it. He drew his claymore and pointed it at the distant light-emitting-orb, and fired a simplistic soul arrow at it. The magic bolt struck the orb in the glass, cracking it and causing the orb to spurt sparks as it died out. Once he was pleased that it had been disabled he sheathed his claymore.

The flame monster looked at the man oddly as he passed by and walked into the building they had been loitering in front of. "Er… thanks? I guess." Both of the monsters then decided not going to school was actually a pretty good idea, and continued to stand about.

This puzzle was a bit more complex. It had far more boxes in the way of the shots, and oddly placed unmovable boxes. Leontius had to give it some thought before he could begin moving boxes around. Through some trial, error, and time, he found the correct orientation and pattern that let him use both shots and hit the other ship. Once Leontius was done, he returned to the center room and hopped to the large door, which freely slid open as he approached. The path ahead was highly elevated, and the plates were placed one after the other. As soon as he activated the first one, it sent him forward into the next two, which carried him over to an odd, dark building. The floor was made of strange, round tiles…

Walking into the building revealed it to be pitch black inside. Leontius wandered about in the dark, getting an unsettling feeling of familiarity….

The lights suddenly flipped on.

Leontius was in a kitchen of sorts. Shiny appliances, ingredients, and a counter were all set up. Seemingly from out of nowhere, Mettaton (now sporting a chef's hat) popped up at the counter with an exclamatory "OHHHH YES!"

Leontius could feel a twang of impatience at the sight of the robot, and he aggravatedly ran his hands down his face. "I cannot believe this… of all the interruptions..."

Mettaton had started waving his mic-less hand to cameras all about the studio, he was going to make this a show to remember!

"WELCOME BEAUTIES, TO THE UNDERGROUND'S PREMIERE COOKING SHOW, COOKING WITH A KILLER ROBOT!"

Leontius' annoyance grew. 'What is a cooking show…?'

"PRE-HEAT YOUR OVENS, BECAUSE WE'VE GOT A VERY SPECIAL RECIPE FOR YOU TODAY! WE'RE GOING TO BE MAKING…" Dramatic pause for the tension… "A CAKE! MY LOVELY ASSISTANT HERE WILL GATHER THE INGREDIENTS. EVERYONE GIVE THEM A BIG HAND!"

Just like at the Lab, Mettaton clapped his hands and confetti fell from above onto Leontius. This time, the man didn't even bother to try and swat them away, he knew it was in vain. As Mettaton kept clapping, Leontius felt this was a gargantuan waste of time. He made to leave, but Mettaton reached an arm under the table and pressed a button which activated a grid of blue lasers over both doorways, and Leontius wouldn't be able to shoot them out since their orbs were hidden by the walls. With a defeated sigh he stayed where he was.

"NOW… WE'LL NEED SUGAR, MILK, AND EGGS. GO FOR IT, HANDSOME!" The robot pointed to the ingredients on the other counter.

Leontius dejectedly picked up the bag of sugar, and the two cartons of ingredients next to the bag, and then put them all on the counter next to Mettaton.

"PERFECT! GREAT JOB, HANDSOME! WE'VE GOT ALL THE INGREDIENTS WE NEED TO BAKE THE CAKE! MILK… SUGAR… EGGS… OH MY! WAIT A MAGNIFICENT MOMENT! HOW COULD I FORGET! WE'RE MISSING THE MOST IMPORTANT INGREDIENT!" Mettaton then procured a large chainsaw from under the table. "A HUMAN SOUL!" The robot then revved the tool and slowly wheeled over to Leontius, who was now fully alert and backing up steadily while reaching to unsheath his claymore at the maniacally flashing red and yellow robot. By the time he was about to pull the blade, a ringing interrupted the machine. He dropped the chainsaw, lifted up his chef hat, and got the ringing phone that had been underneath it. The machine brought the phone to it's frontal speaker/microphone.

"HELLO…? I'M KIND OF IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMETHING HERE… A SUBSTITUTION? YOU MEAN, USE A DIFFERENT, NON-HUMAN INGREDIENT…? WHY…? VEGAN. THAT'S A BRILLIANT IDEA, ALPHYS!"

L gave a breathless sigh of relief. Alphys was looking out for him. 'But that means she may have seen me changing armor… it is a good thing I did not strip to indecency.'

The robot then tossed the phone away. "ACTUALLY, I HAPPEN TO HAVE AN OPTION RIGHT OVER HERE! MTT-BRAND-ALWAYS-CONVENIENT-HUMAN-SOUL-FLAVOR-SUBSTITUTE!"

'Souls have a flavor? I have yet to notice… hrm.'

"...A CAN OF WHICH... IS JUST OVER ON THAT COUNTER!" Mettaton pointed out of the doorway, which somehow deactivated the blue lasers that were guarding it. A counter with a small red can was there, just before the end of the odd tiling and the start of the normal rocky path.

"WELL, HANDSOME? WHY DON'T YOU GO GET IT?"

Leontius gave the robot a look of distrust as he went over to the small counter. This seemed like a trap, or at the very least, some kind of trick. Why would the counter be outside the-

Just as he stood before the can and counter, it dropped a few inches, rattled, then suddenly burst upward and gained height. L looked on with ever increasing loathing for Mettaton as the counter gained more and more height. Just as the machine in question rolled up to say something, Leontius rapidly took his claymore in hand, then charged up a magical soul greatsword attack. Once it was charged, he took a wide swing to release it and cut through the expanding counter-tower before it got too tall. The section that was growing stopped dead in its tracks and the top piece slowly slid over, before toppling down through the studio Mettaton had set up.

At least the can landed next to the other ingredients.

The robot stood silent while Leontius sheathed his blade. "I think I will be heading out then. Enjoy making that cake, Mettaton." He then set out onto the path, seeing the looming Core in the distance out in the magma.

"WELL, YOU MUST NOT KNOW HOW COOKING SHOWS WORK… I PREMADE THE CAKE, WITH THE OPTIONAL…" Mettaton realised he was on camera still. "OH WELL NEVERMIND THAT, ONTO THE NEXT SET!" He then took off, flying across the magmatic caverns of the Hotland.

013


	14. To the CORE

014

Leontius sorely hoped that Mettaton would not be a recurring blockade. After he left the cooking setup, he had been walking East for quite some time. No matter how far he walked, the gargantuan machine in the distance never seemed to change perspective thanks to its size. Leontius felt he should check the guide, the looming machine and the constant noise it made somewhat worried him. The guide revealed it to actually be his destination, the Core, which he'd reach by going through the "MTT Resort." The Core is the source of power for the Underground, the reason why their buildings have light the way they do. Apparently, it also contains an "elevator," which Leontius equated to the chain lifts he'd seen in numerous places above. That elevator would take him directly to Asgore's castle.

Leontius wondered how that encounter would work out. Would the king listen to reason? Or would he be like Undyne and stay steadfast, and choose to battle? The way Toriel described Asgore made it seem more like the king would prefer the former, but Leontius was unsure in the end. He may have changed since Toriel had last seen him, Leontius had witnessed just what can happen to kings and lords when they change… and he'd done battle with them before. He just hoped he wouldn't be forced to break his promise to Toriel by killing her former husband of all people.

His thoughts were cut short when he noticed a vertical, silver tube was ahead. It rested against the path which he saw had abruptly ended as he walked closer. The tube had a few orange markings, a sliding door, and a panel that had up and downward pointing arrows on it. The orange markings were four dots, and an "R1." What R1 stood for, he had no clue. He decided he'd try pressing one of the arrow controls, which opened up the sliding door. Leontius stepped inside, finding that it was indeed some kind of lift. There was another set of controls on the wall of the elevator, that being a panel with red-glowing and non-glowing buttons. The two glowing buttons read "Left Floor 1" and "Right Floor 2." He wasn't quite sure what to press first, so he tried Left floor 1. Once his finger pushed the glowing button, a confirmatory beep sounded out, and the elevator began to drop rapidly. Leontius stumbled a bit at the acceleration, but by the time he'd gotten used to it, it had already slowed down and the door had slid open. He stepped out to see Alphys' lab a little ways a way. He'd come in a circle. At least the elevator gave him a way back…

Leontius stepped back in, and this time he selected Right Floor 2. He braced for acceleration, but he'd been expecting it to be downward. His prepared stance resulted in him

being even worse for wear once the force came in the totally opposite direction, resulting in him nearly falling on his backside. He braced himself on the wall, thankfully. He wasted no time when he was getting out, he found the elevator rather unpleasant. As soon as he was out, a short flame monster standing in front of the elevator doors yelled "HEATS FLAMESMAN!" and stepped in. The short monster then hopped up to press one of the buttons. Leontius looked on as the elevator closed and whooshed away, wondering just what the monster's issue was, and why he would be shouting his name. With a dismissive shake of his head, he just kept walking.

The path was heading West, for once. A short ways from the elevator, Leontius saw what seemed to be a floating monster, a miniature volcano, and…

'A Snowdin sentry post… with snow on it. In Hotland…?' Leontius walked up to the strange group. Closer (but still somewhat distant) inspection of the volcano revealed it to actually be a monster, with an odd meat and bread thing stuffed into its top. Unlike the volcano monster, Leontius could not divine just what the floating monster was. It had long feminine eyelashes, a pink dress… thing, and oddly enough, a rather female looking chest. She also held a bread and meat food item in her long claws which she brought up to her beak every now and then to take a bite out from.

Leontius felt he should just pass by the strange monsters and instead investigate the sentry post, finding that it was none other than Sans that was behind it, reclined in a chair with his slippered feet on the counter. The skeleton had on his ever-present grin and was looking at him lazily.

"hey big guy, what's up? feelin' hungry? How 'bout a hot-dog?" The skeleton slid his feet from the counter then held out one of the food items, then gave Leontius a look over, noticing his change in apparel. "nice threads, L."

"Thank you for the offer Sans, but I do not get hungry."

The skeleton simply shrugged, put the now identified "hot-dog" next to some other ones like it, and then he leaned forward with his elbows on the counter. "so where's tori?"

Leontius shuffled a little and tapped his boots to get some of the trail dust off them. "About Toriel... we got separated by Undyne, I have not seen her since, and have decided to continue on to Asgore without her. I am unsure how we will meet up… and I remembered my name a short time ago, it is Leontius."

The skeleton's voice didn't seem to even change to convey his surprise. "wow, thought ya had me in the short names department, and turns out you actually got papyrus beat… mind if i call ya leo for short?"

"I… would not mind, at least it is not a monicker as brief as "L," so it is fine by me."

"cool. so, undyne gotcha two split up... how're you gonna do that mission of "dire importance" with ol' dreemurr if tori isn't with ya?"

Leontius absentmindedly fiddled with his sheath's latch, getting it back in place… "I plan to attempt to convince him to end his barrier-breaking plan with some diplomacy. From what I have heard, he feels terrible about killing those six humans for their souls, I will attempt appeal to that."

Sans' managed a questioning look at that. "how would that stop him? if i know the king, it's that he doesn't like it… but he's still gonna do it to make good on his promise to all us monsters."

"That is correct, but… you do not know what is on the surface, do you?" The short skeleton gave him a seemingly careless "nah."

Leontius hushed his voice, knowing the other two monsters were well within earshot. "...Terrible things. Beings far stronger than I inhabit the surface, and all of human-kind has been turned into soul-hungering undead, nearly all of which are outright hostile, save a few kind people who have retained some semblance of their sanity and goodwill. If the king makes this kingdom apparent to what dwells on the surface… it would be ruinous. I intend to tell him of the worst the world above has to offer, perhaps that may bring him to call off his plan."

Sans was practically frozen. 'leo's… not the strongest thing from the surface? what the hell could be…'

Sans was stock still, sweat seemed to be visible on his skull. "...do ya mind giving me an example?"

Leontius noticed Sans' change in demeanor and hesitantly gave an answer. "I... have met and done battle with a few great dragons that truly put me to the test, one of which I could not defeat without assistance, another was outright impervious to physical and magical attack. I daresay that one was some form of divine or demonic avatar, I had to use ballistas to break it free of my path so I could pass it… it is still very much alive and out there."

Sans simply sat still. The odd white "eyes" that usually inhabited his sockets were gone. He'd seemingly become unresponsive, until… "get going, leo. get to asgore ASAP buddy." His voice was even and uniform, he'd dropped his lazy tone. Sans actually sounded serious for once.

The two monsters that were enjoying their hot-dogs had taken notice of San' odd change in personality, but they hadn't heard Leontius talking about the surface. Leontius had noticed the change as well and he was rather troubled. Sans continued to stay totally still, sweat still visible on his skull.

Leontius simply decided to take the silent comic's advice and get going, he was becoming slightly worrisome. He set out East once more.

Sans finally looked at Leontius' back once he had started walking again, still silent.

'it makes sense now… no wonder why i sensed the things i did. this timeline is far more dangerous than i thought.'

/

The eastward path went on for a while. Things were becoming visible in the dark around Leontius, waving towers of ominous red glows, gears, metallic pipes, and beams were starting to appear and go every which direction into the dark cavern. The path went uninterrupted, until another segment of moving conveyors became audible ahead. Before he saw them, a small offshoot of the path grabbed his attention. He decided to check it. The path was short lived and expanded out a little, but there was nothing of importance on it. The only thing that was of note was a very small, stained apron. Leontius didn't bother with the trifle, and instead returned to the main eastward path and the impending conveyors.

As it turns out, the conveyors were part of a puzzle to unlock what seemed to be a barrier made of arcing lightning.

Fortunately this puzzle was straightforward, and it was just timing on Leontius' part. He simply had to ride one of the conveyors and press three switches mounted to pipes that were next to the conveyor, which then dropped the barrier allowing him to keep going eastward…

...Unfortunately, the next puzzle was much more complicated and dangerous by far. A veritable maze of suspended steam plates were now in his way, serving as a convoluted method of transport to the other side of the path. The steam plates also were equipped with switches on their suspended bases, which would activate and change around the directions the plates would launch him. Consulting the guide gave Leontius an idea of how to complete the puzzle, but the moment he started jumping the gaps he found himself being spun about midair and disoriented in every direction excluding up and down. Leontius came to a simple conclusion.

These plates were far worse than the straightforward ones.

After numerous attempted and failed patterns to get to the other side, and a few trips on a conveyor that would reset him should he get stuck, he solved it and found himself on the other side, slight dizziness setting in. After waiting a few moments to regain his poise, he kept walking East. He then passed by the two knights from before, who were inspecting what seemed to be a container of sorts on top of an out of place wooden table. When the squat-helmed one finally noticed Leontius had passed by, he called out to the undead wanderer.

"Hey! You! Stop!"

That got Leontius' attention. The undead turned, hiding his face with his hood, and moving his sword and sheath so that they were out of sight. What an odd sense of deja vu.

'Perhaps they will not recognise me, I have changed equipment, bar my sword…'

The two knights dropped their curiosity on the container and instead walked closer to Leontius. Like before, the squat-helmed one was the one who wanted to speak.

"We've… like, been searching for a human wearing armor. They were wandering around Hotland by the Lab, and we've been waiting and looking all over. Have you seen them?"

Leontius gave them a shake of his hooded head. 'Do not recognise the hood… it is just a coincidence.'

"...Well, just stay chill. You look like you can handle yourself, so be safe. We'll just be waiting some more over at that safe thing."

The squat-helmed knight then turned and went back to his spot, shortly joined by the tall-helmed one, who stayed and silently stared at Leontius for a few moments before joining his comrade.

Leontius let out a "breath" he didn't know he was holding, then briskly kept walking. The path passed by a number of suspended bases of land similar to the plate maze's, but these ones sported steam-venting pipes. They were of no consequence, and were only a backdrop to the path, which had turned North and back West around the suspensions. Another dark room was ahead. Leontius wasn't quite sure how it was dark, but it was, as if all ambient light had been purposefully blocked out of the area. As he walked into it, he had a sense of foreboding that this was another one of Mettaton's tricks.

The light somehow came back on, and a camera shaped like Mettaton floated down and focused on Leontius.

At this point, Leontius could almost feel his annoyance on a physical level.

The camera then started speaking, in the voice of none other than Mettaton. "OHHHHHH YESSS! GOOD AFTERNOON, BEAUTIES AND GENTLEBEAUTIES! THIS IS METTATON, REPORTING LIVE FROM MTT NEWS! AN INTERESTING SITUATION HAS ARISEN IN EASTERN HOTLAND! FORTUNATELY, OUR CORRESPONDENT IS OUT THERE REPORTING LIVE! BRAVE CORRESPONDENT! PLEASE FIND SOMETHING NEWSWORTHY TO REPORT! OUR TEN WONDERFUL VIEWERS ARE WAITING FOR YOU!"

Leontius was really beginning to tire of this robot. He could actually recall some deaths that were less frustrating than this metallic nightmare, he'd rather suffer through some of his "friend" Patches' antics than deal with Mettaton's nonsense anymore; which is saying something, since Patches (who'd gone through quite a few titles and names, "Hyena," "Trusty," the name and guise of "Pate," and his most recent and unfortunate one, "The spider," which he had garnered during the Nightmare when he half-turned into a spider beast. A kind of retribution for his deeds?) was a trickster who'd led Leontius to his death on more than one occasion. At least he made it up by selling equipment for a lowered price… Mettaton most likely would make no such recompense.

There were a number of benign objects scattered about, a cup, a ball of sorts, papers…? Leontius felt like he would not play into Mettaton's game or acknowledge the machine, so he kept walking. A glowing blue barrier was on the path ahead, an attempt to block him from leaving. The camera was still watching Leontius as he unsheathed his claymore and simply put it straight through the barrier, shattering it. He promptly kept walking after, replacing his claymore as he went. The camera stayed in place, watching the undead as he walked off and into another elevator to the North.

Mettaton floated by wearing a news anchor outfit, and the camera looked to him. "IT SEEMS OUR CORRESPONDENT HAS MORE IMPORTANT MATTERS. NO WORRIES! A GOOD ANCHOR ALWAYS GOES WHERE THE STORY IS! AND THE STORY IS… ACTUALLY NOT HERE." Mettaton then waved to the camera and rocketed off once more, letting his news anchor attire fall to the floor beneath.

As the camera stayed in place, a dog walked by and sat directly in shot, not doing much but being a dog. As the camera stared at the dog, it couldn't help but wonder just what it's existence meant to everything as a whole, what was its purpose? What was the dog's purpose? Why are they here? Is there something after this life? Is there a god? Because there certainly was a dog.

The dog blankly stared back at the camera, then merrily trotted off.

The camera spontaneously combusted and exploded shortly after.

/

Leontius was now on "Left Floor 3." This floor was far more metallic and featured much more machinery than the last. The path had become a red steel walkway, which was taking Leontius West once more. He'd just walked through a "bake sale" being held by a spider monster by the name of Muffet, who explained it was to raise money for helping spiders. He apologetically announced that he did not have enough money to purchase things, so instead he handed over the last ten gold he had. He was still not intent on giving up that last coin, though. It had quite the story behind it. After donating, Leontius walked past a monster who'd just spent all his money on a donut, and was on his way…

...Before promptly being presented with another suspended steam plate maze. This one wasn't quite as bad as the previous one, it lacked the direction changing switches that complicated the puzzle by a large degree. To the Northwest, he could see another large locked door, and the puzzle buildings for it to the North and South. This was a pretty self-explanatory situation. He also noticed the northern building one was quite clear of obstacles, unlike the southern one which had conveyors and blue laser orbs moving about. Leontius felt that getting the simpler path out of the way first would be a good start, so he hopped across the maze, and made his way into the North building.

This building's arrow and box puzzle was even more complicated than both of the previous ones, allowing him only one shot which meant he needed a totally clear line of fire. This took Leontius quite some time to complete. Some frustration and irritation at the lost time later, he'd solved it, left the building (and walked past two odd diamond-faced monsters who were spouting things about Mettaton), hopped to the South building, and found himself stuck. This conveyor and blue laser setup was devious. How exactly was he supposed to not move through the blue lights with the conveyor carrying him, he was unsure. He did not want to experience just what they would do if he moved through them, so he took the safe way and just shot them out with soul arrows then entered the building.

The southern building's box puzzle turned out much easier than the northern one's, Leontius managed to solve it in just a few moves. After the screen congratulated him, he left, stepped on the return conveyor, then hopped across the maze to the door, which, exactly like the last, slid open as he approached it. The door's path led to an odd building-thing, which was made of an unidentifiable purple material. Leontius wasn't quite sure if it was stone or metal, it made no sound to indicate just what it was. Despite the oddity, Leontius had to keep going, so he unhesitatingly walked through. He had noticed a large number of spider webs about…

'Maybe it is Muffet's home. I would not be surprised, all things considered… it would not be the first spider's lair I have walked into.' He was walking around splotches of webbing that were all around on the path, when the spider monster herself swung by on a web-rope-swing thing. "Hello dearie, thank you for the donation!" Muffet then swung away, laughing "Ahuhuhuhu!" as she went. Leontius was glad he'd done some good, he wasn't really able to purchase much with just ten gold anyways. After crossing a web bridge, Leontius had left the purple building and found himself on another one of Mettaton's sets. Buildings, a moon, and stars were all set up as a background, and a foreground wall with stairs leading down to his level blocked his way. Leontius was looking around for a way through when, of course…

"OH? THAT HUMAN…" The machine rolled out from behind a "room" atop the wall, and was standing just before the stairs, wearing a dress.

Leontius had no words.

"COULD IT BE… MY ONE TRUE LOVE?" Mettaton then rolled down the stairs, then began his play in song. Leontius only stood there, pulled his hood further over his head, and looked down.

"OH MY LOVE, PLEASE RUN AWAY, MONSTER KING, FORBIDS YOUR STAY. HUMANS MUST LIVE... FAR APART, EVEN IF… IT BREAKS MY HEART. THEY'LL PUT YOU…" Petals began blowing in, and like the confetti before, Leontius did nothing to prevent them from landing on him.

"IN THE DUNGEON… IT'LL SUCK… AND THEN YOU'LL DIE A LOT… REALLY SAD… YOU'RE GONNA DIE… CRY CRY CRY… SO SAD IT'S HAPPENING." The robot finally finished singing, and Leontius finally had the self-composure to look at Mettaton without getting the urge to do something he'd later regret.

"SO SAD. SO SAD THAT YOU'RE GOING TO THE DUNGEON." Mettaton then pulled a remote from under his dress, dramatically held it up, and with a "Toodles!" pressed the button with flair. A trapdoor underneath Leontius opened up and he dropped in with a surprised grunt.

Leontius landed somewhat roughly on his backside on a rocky piece of land, his pauldron rattling away. Once he got up, he saw a thin conveyor path that was inactive, which lead to a far longer, and rather familiar, colored tile puzzle. Mettaton then floated down from above, hovering with his now purple colored thruster.

"OH NO! WHATEVER SHALL I DO? MY LOVE HAS BEEN CAST AWAY INTO THE DUNGEON. A DUNGEON WITH A PUZZLE SO DASTARDLY, MY PARAMOUR WILL SURELY PERISH." Mettaton then pointed to the tile maze dramatically. "O, HEAVENS HAVE MERCY! THE HORRIBLE COLORED TILE MAZE! EACH COLORED TILE HAS ITS OWN SADISTIC FUNCTION. FOR EXAMPLE, A GREEN TILE SOUNDS A NOISE, AND THEN YOU MUST FIGHT A MONSTER. RED TILES WILL… ACTUALLY, WAIT A SECOND. DIDN'T YOU SEE THIS PUZZLE A WHILE AGO?"

'What… oh that is correct… Alphys made that puzzle-contraption that Papyrus attempted to use. It seems to actually be working. This… is not going to go in my favor.'

"THAT'S RIGHT. YOU REMEMBER ALL THE RULES, DON'T YOU? GREAT! THEN I WON'T WASTE YOUR TIME REPEATING THEM! OH, AND YOU'D BETTER HURRY. BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T GET THROUGH IN 30 SECONDS…" A wall of flames appeared behind Leontius, startling the undead. Of course he'd be wearing one of his least flame-resistant sets of gear.

"YOU'LL BE INCINERATED BY THESE JETS OF FIRE! AHAHAHAHAHAHA… AHAHA… HA… HA! MY POOR LOVE, I'M SO FILLED WITH GRIEF, I CAN'T STOP LAUGHING! GOOD LUCK DARLING!" Leontius shot the machine a caustic look, that if it had been truly acidic, would have melted right through Mettaton's metallic chassis. The robot began singing again, floating about, almost gloatingly in nature.

'If the machine thinks he has me beat with fire… a bit of fire magic of my own ought to surprise him.' Without a care for the rules, Leontius sprinted forward onto the "inactive" conveyor, which activated as soon as he stepped on it. It began to try and move him backwards, but Leontius ran fast enough to outpace the treadmilling conveyor and was onto the tiles. He ran in any direction he could, not caring what flavor of fruit he smelled of. Eventually, he was running in circles, not able to move in any direction. The thirty seconds passed. The tiles grayed out and Mettaton floated over. "OOOOH, I'M SO SORRY! LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE OUT OF TIME! HERE COME THE FLAMES, DARLING!" True to his word, walls of flame appeared and surrounded Leontius. "THEY'RE CLOSING IN!" The flames came in closer, and Leontius prepared a spell in his glove…

"GETTING! CLOSER! OH MY!" The flames were at Leontius' boots, he was about to cast his "flash sweat" spell… "ANY MINUTE NOW!" The flames had halted, and Mettaton gave a robotic cough. Suddenly, the flames died out.

"OH NO! HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN? I MUST HAVE BEEN FOILED BY THE BRILLIANT DOCTOR ALPHYS! SHE HAS SHUT DOWN THE FLAMES! BUT… HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN WHAT THE GREEN TILES DO? THEY MAKE A SOUND, THEN YOU MUST FIGHT A MONSTER. WELL DARLING… THAT MONSTER… IS ME!" Mettaton then flung off his dress and landed in front of Leontius on the tile maze. The robot and undead wanderer stood still for a while, not doing anything. Mettaton seemed to be looking around questioningly.

"SO…"

The robot actually jumped when Leontius finally moved, he walked right past the machine.

Mettaton sassily put his hands on his chassis and watched the human go. "I SUPPOSE YOU ARE NOT IN THE MOOD THEN. FINE, THE DRAMATIC AIR HAS STALED ANYWAYS. I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE RESORT, MR. PARTY POOPER HUMAN." Once again, the encounter ended with Mettaton rocketing off and Leontius simply walking away.

'For a "blood-thirsty human-killing machine," Mettaton is rather shoddy at his one job.' Leontius had kept on the tile-path, and was now headed North. The ground was rocky again, and he could see the top half a tall, looming building ahead, sitting atop a hill. He assumed that was the MTT Resort. He could also see the Nicecream man and the two knights from before, it seemed like the knights were buying some of the rather joyed bunny's frozen treats.

For a few moments, Leontius regretted donating that money to Muffet. He sorely wanted one of those treats.

014


	15. A paradise for monsters

015

After morosely passing by the Nicecream man (and returning his greeting with a half-hearted wave), Leontius started the trek up the stairs cut into the hill. He wasn't too mindful of the two knights, they seemed to be distractedly chatting. They had even taken their helmets off to eat their nicecream and talk. The squat-helmed one was a bunny monster, and the other seemed reptilian in nature, but not like Alphys. Leontius brought his attention to the Resort atop the hill. It was the tallest building he'd seen in the Underground, and the area on top of the hill was dark. The building had numerous golden-lit windows that reached up into the dark above. The architecture was quite unlike anything Leontius had ever seen, the buildings of Snowdin were not unlike cabins and far-northern buildings of his own kingdom, and Alphys' lab was solid-white and plainly rectangular, but this building was totally new to him.

He'd finally gotten to the top of the hill, and could now see the front door and sign of the building. The glowing sign was a stylised-fonted "MTT" on a red backdrop with two winged golden Mettaton-shaped characters on either side. The doors were made of glass, the handles being an "M" divided between the two. A long, luxurious red carpet extended to the stairs, bordered with M's and T's. Just as Leontius was about to make his way into the building, someone stepped out of the shadows to the left of the entry and stood before the planter.

It was Sans. Once more, the skeleton had found a way to get somewhere ahead of Leontius without the undead ever noticing.

Leontius decided he'd have a talk with the comic, he was beginning to seriously wonder just how Sans could beat him to his destination with ease. As he walked up to Sans, the skeleton gave him a knowing look and walked back into the dark, beckoning Leontius to follow as he went. Leontius went into the dark as well, and suddenly the shadows fell away and he found himself inside what seemed to be a fancy dining hall. There were a few monsters here, but it seemed that the hall was actually closed, no one was here eating. The room was mostly darkened, but Leontius managed to spot Sans sitting at one of the tables in a worried looking sitting position. Leontius joined Sans at the table, leaning back in his chair.

"Sans, I must ask you a question."

The skeleton stopped fidgeting for a moment and finally looked up at the undead. "yeah, i gotta ask you something too. i know i told ya to get to the core, but i just gotta know more. and i'll be honest with you, i know a lot, but things are… different, at least this time around."

Leontius pulled his hood off so Sans could actually see his face. "What are you talking about? What do you mean by "this time around?" And just how do you keep getting to places before me?"

Sans tried to relax a bit, he needed to get some straight answers out of this conversation, after all. "i'll start it off by just outright tellin' ya how it is. i'm not a normal monster. i'm not bound to just one timeline like everyone else, and i've got abilities. the one you're asking about is simple, i can easily teleport wherever in the underground i want to be." Leontius was about to remind Sans about the reference he'd made with "this time," but Sans interrupted him. Leontius just sat back again and started fiddling with his rings while he listened.

"don't worry, i was getting to that. what i meant by "this time around," is that i've been through this whole situation countless times. i've seen every possible outcome of what happens in the underground with the eighth human to fall down here. all of them before this involved a kid named frisk. frisk would go through any combination of actions through the underground, killing some monsters, befriending or sparing all monsters… or going on a complete genocide and emptying the underground totally. the last time we went through with frisk was pretty standard, frisk didn't kill anything outside of the ruins, tori managed to get them to see that monsters were people too. Frisk escaped, undyne hated their guts for killing monsters… yadda yadda. i've seen it all plenty of times. but this time around, you're the eighth human, and apparently the surface is completely different. i've gotten to see frisk's surface world, and it sounds nothing like yours. so i gotta ask you something now… what do you do up there, and why?"

Leontius had to think for a while on that. He pondered his purpose on the surface, what did his actions there mean? Why was he the one to take on the stronger beasts and demons? It never occurred to him in his more hollowed state in the past, but it truly was strange. "I… am unsure, in all honesty. Most of the time I feel like I did not know why I did the things I done. I know I was given little direction, but the paths I walked felt natural and ingrained, like…"

Sans could see it. Leontius didn't even know he was stuck in the time loops, just like everyone else. But something more had to be in play, he knew it.

"it felt like you'd done it a million times before, huh? i know that feel, bro. the world's been stuck in a cycle for a long time. and i can tell it affects you differently, just like me. when the world and time loop back, i still remember. when it loops for you, you stay just as strong, but it seems like you forget like everyone else. gonna need some help figuring it out, but i can tell you've fought the same things over and over though. i know ya don't remember a whole lot leo, but try and remember how it started this time for you."

That was even harder to do. Leontius began to recall his time after his first death. He felt like crawling out of that river had only happened once, it was exclusively the first thing he'd done as a "fully-fledged" and turned undead. He knew he'd wandered for a long time, and then he was found and herded with a number of other undead to some kind asylum. He was there for quite a while, the memory of that place was nothing but an image of steel bars blocking his way out, and the senseless growls and moans of other undead. Then he could remember a trap-door opening above, and a talisman had been dropped into his cell… he remembered going limp after that, asylum staff flooded the cell, and dragged him off to the medical ward. The staff had examined him, looked at the Death mark, prodded it with tools, checked his body over, they were trying to learn from the undead to better combat them. After that he was put back in his cell. More blurring. Then, another thing was dropped into his cell, long after. It was the key to his cell. When he looked up, all he saw was the retreating helmet of a knight.

The moment he left that cell. That was when his journey started…

And that's when the loops began. He was remembering now. He'd done the things he'd done and fought the beasts he'd fought countless times, and he had little direction… but now he knew why it was natural to do it, the ingrained feeling of guidance and repetition was all thanks to the convolution of time. Leontius communicated his memories to Sans, he'd finally found out the truth to his existence on the surface, and why his memories were faded and fogged. The skeleton seemed relieved as well, things were beginning to come to light.

"that's great leo, we know how your time started then. is there anything else ya have to say? joggin' your memory any more? can ya figure out how your cycle usually ends and goes back to the start in your cell?"

The end of the cycle? The last major thing he'd done on the surface before deciding to explore out to Mt. Ebott was fight the undead king in his very own throne room… that fight. The king had began changing horribly long ago. By the time Leontius had reached him, he was practically a demon, and the corruption of the beasts and the Night had done him no favors, he'd turned into a rotting beast of a demon, who wielded a great ceremonial sword imbued with flame. That battle was quite difficult, and Leontius had nearly fallen twice during the fight before finally defeating the king. But what made this time different…? He tried to recall his past battles with the king, and remembered he'd done one thing differently. After he defeated the king, a dark passage behind the throne would open. He'd walk into the dark… and wake up in his cell again. But he had not done that this time. It was the first time he had not been tempted to explore the passage. He'd simply walked away and went back out into the kingdom to wander for quite a while. Eventually he explored much of the expansive kingdom, from North, East, South and West… until he finally set his sights on Mt. Ebott, always far off in the distant mountain ranges, piercing the sky as one of the tallest peaks.

A true grasp of how time was working began to bombard Leontius' mind. Since he had woken up out of that cell this time, it had been what felt like just over a thousand years. Everything, even the horrific Night, had occurred after that moment he stepped out of that cell… battling countless undead, demons, dragons, the king…

And that timespan had been repeated who knows how many times.

He slowly looked down at the palms of his hands, noticing he had begun to shake slightly.

'How long have I truly been fighting…? I had believed it had been quite a while since I stepped from that cell… but after repeating the years how many times… how many times have I killed… how many times have I died? How long have I actually existed if my body retained the power I have gained after all this time?!' Leontius brought his hands to his face. He was beginning to recall.

Hundreds of thousands of years of similar memories were flooding his mind. Walk out of the cell… kill the king, walk into the passage… walk out of the cell… kill the king… walk into the passage… He had to kill his closest friends at some points when they turned hollow on him, and he'd killed them countless times over the cycles. He'd felled great beings over and over and battled through a countless horde of undead, all sporting familiar sunken and pained faces that had begun to burn into his mind and memory after fighting them through the duplicate sequences so many times.

And the deaths. He had died many times in this single cycle. He now knew just how many deaths he'd experienced over the cycles combined. And like the number of beings he'd killed, those deaths were nigh innumerable.

He had become like Sans. Not only had he retained the strength gained in the repeated timelines, he now reclaimed the memories once obfuscated.

"hey, you alright pal?" Leontius could hear the concern lacing Sans' voice, but he did not look at or acknowledge the skeleton. He was too busy attempting to understand the concept of his existence and the sheer volume of time he'd experienced.

"yeah, it's a lot to take in, i get it. it's best not to hang onto it too much buddy, it'll start confusing ya more." Leontius was still in a state of shock. "leo, come on man." The undead finally looked at Sans, a seemingly thousand-yard stare the only thing his face could express effectively. Sans felt like Leontius was actually looking right through him. With the way Leo had described the surface, he could imagine why.

"how ya holding up leo?"

Leontius' voice was distant, and hushed. At this volume, his voice had lost its gravel and was just more than a whisper. "I am not well Sans. Not well at all. I am… attempting… and somewhat failing… to quantify to myself what my memories from the past cycles all mean. I… I suppose you are right…" He slid himself out and stood up from the chair, still somewhat catatonic. "I should try to move on…" A horrified look slowly crept over his face. "Sans. What if… time loops again after I complete my quest to end Asgore's plan? Will I remember all of this? Will… I forget everything again?"

The skeleton also got up from the table, and gave the shocked undead a pat on the arm. "the only way you'll know is if you get to asgore and convince him to give up his plan. the most we can do is hope, and the core isn't far now. it's a pretty straight shot, and from what i can tell, mettaton is doing things differently too. he usually hires mercenaries, rearranges the core… but he hasn't done any of that this time. in frisk's timeline mettaton wants to get to the surface, but… maybe he learned about it from a certain someone, huh?"

"Perhaps, he may have overheard me and Alphys talking about it…"

The skeleton shrugged, and he adopted his normal and seemingly careless air and attitude. "alright, good talk leo. get going, you've got it easy ahead compared to how frisk usually has it. just go to the resort's lobby, and look for the giant sign that says "core," can't miss it. anywho, be seein' ya, maybe." The skeleton then walked towards the back of the hall where there weren't any monsters, then he seemingly vanished. Leontius looked on, and slowly came to grips with himself. He felt much older than he did before. He also began to understand just how much killing and dying he'd experienced. He hoped that the world would not reset again, not after he found a place free of the horrors of the surface, not after he found peace, not after he found love.

If the world reset, Toriel would forget him, and that scared him like nothing had before. Once the world reset and he might forgot everything, he would most likely forgo coming to Mt. Ebott, and he would forget her as well. Leontius could feel uncertainty growing within him. But he needed to keep going. He went the opposite way Sans had and left the dining hall, finding that he was indeed in the main lobby of the resort. There was a fountain in the center, unsurprisingly featuring a golden statue of Mettaton, which was spurting out a stream of water from its face onto the red carpet.

Leontius ignored the testament to the self-absorbed robot and instead followed the carpet. There were quite a few patrons, and all of them (except the receptionist, who had a hand for a head) were giving him odd looks. Only then did he realise he had left his hood down. Oh well. They had seen him anyways, so he decided to just leave it down and keep going. Sure enough, there was a glowing "CORE" sign at the end of the carpet above a pair of golden doors. Leontius took on a confident and determined stride as he passed the gawking patrons, he could feel his uncertainty starting to die down a little, the end of his journey wasn't far now. He pushed his way through the double doors and kept going, seeing a room bathed in glowing blue light ahead.

/

As Leontius travelled through the Core he met no resistance from any mercenary monsters, just like Sans had said. There was one section where the laser orbs would simply not let him pass, so he spent some time blasting them out of the way to proceed. After that, it was a fairly straight shot to the Core elevator… at least it was, until Leontius found Mettaton awaiting him.

/

Leontius had just crossed a bridge that spanned a gap above the white-hot Core, and was now standing before a final ornate entryway. Stepping through, he was greeted by the sight of Mettaton standing still (for once) on a dark metal platform. As Leontius approached, Mettaton spoke.

"THERE YOU ARE, HUMAN. SO, TIME FOR OUR LITTLE SHOWDOWN-"

Leontius was not about to deal with this again. "I do not have the time to deal with you, robot. I must reach Asgore…"

"-BUT I HAVE NO INTENTION TO FIGHT YOU. THIS WAS ALL JUST A SHOW. AN ACT. ALPHYS WAS BEHIND ALL THE PUZZLES AND SETS. SHE MADE THEM ALL BEFORE YOU GOT TO HER AND GAVE YOU THAT GUIDE. DON'T FEEL ANGRY. SHE'S JUST A COMPLICATED CASE, AND SHE JUST DID IT TO FEEL BETTER ABOUT HERSELF, LIKE SHE ACTUALLY HELPED SOMEONE. AND IN A WAY SHE DID. ANYWAYS, I WON'T FIGHT YOU HUMAN. I'M AN ENTERTAINER, THROUGH AND THROUGH. ORIGINALLY, I WANTED TO LEAVE THE UNDERGROUND TO ENTERTAIN HUMANS… BUT I HEARD HOW YOU DESCRIBED IT, AND I'VE SEEN HOW YOU REACTED TO THE SETS. I DON'T THINK HUMANS WOULD APPRECIATE MY QUALITY OF ENTERTAINMENT ANYWAYS, IF THEY'RE LIKE YOU, WITH YOUR SWORDS AND ALL THAT DRAB METAL AND HOODS. I DON'T WANT TO STOP YOU, BECAUSE IF WHAT LIVES UP THERE COMES DOWN HERE, I'LL HAVE LOST AN AUDIENCE TO ENTERTAIN." The robot then wheeled past him somewhat briskly, and went back out into the Core. Leontius stared after the machine before going on his way. He was glad Mettaton had not blockaded him any longer, but he was somewhat confused as to why Alphys would want to make the path more difficult, just to help him subvert her own puzzles. He pondered it as he walked, through a normal Core colored area after Mettaton's, which was a long hall. At the end, he found his goal.

The Core elevator.

Stepping inside, Leontius noticed it was far larger than the elevators of Hotland and featured a purple coloration. Thankfully, it fit him comfortably. He pressed the glowing red button on the panel, and the elevator accelerated up at a leisurely pace, not offsetting and jostling the undead about. The ride took a good thirty seconds before it finally came to a slow halt, and the doors opened with a "ding!"

Leontius stepped out into a discomfortingly familiar gray bricked corridor, which was strikingly similar to those of the castle of his own kingdom. The corridor and path were linear now. As he followed it, he found himself walking along a castle wall, overlooking a cityscape, the "stars" above creating a rather good looking nighttime setting. He remembered seeing this city from the waterfall opening, when he and Toriel were still undertaking this quest together. He sorely hoped she had made it out fine… Undyne had yet to really get his scorn for harming her. Leontius continued to walk along the wall, until he saw the entry to the castle.

It looked like a gray version of the front of Toriel's house, complete with gray leaves in the exact same spots. Leontius entered the bizarre copy home, and found the inside to follow the trend. It was exactly the same, albeit gray. Leontius did not feel compelled to linger in the home, so he went down the staircase. In Toriel's home, it lead down to the Ruins exit, but in this house it lead into a long corridor, followed by another section of a lower wall and view of the city. This wall-path then lead to a beautifully made corridor. Unlike the last few, it was made of numerous vibrant orange colors and great pillars that rose to the ceiling. As Leontius walked through the large hall, his footsteps echoed around, the overall setting reminded him of the hall he'd fought a certain duo of royal warriors in many times before. He was put on a slight edge when he noticed a shadow walk out from one of the pillars, but the tensity fell away when he saw it was just Sans. The skeleton leaned on the pillar and gave him a nod and a slightly lower-than-usual grin as he passed.

After the corridor, Leontius stood in another gray hallway before a throne room entry way, but another path had caught his eye. The path took him down some stairs and to a basement-like room. A row of seven coffins were down here, all marked with colored hearts. The closest one was marked with a red heart and had a name on it, unlike the others which went nameless.

"Characas"

These were the coffins containing the dead humans. The fact that they were all child-sized was not lost to Leontius. He could feel an amount of sorrow for the children. They were victims of a half-hearted plot for "revenge." However, he was glad they had not lived on the surface long enough to see the kingdom and their families become twisted and destroyed. In that way, these children were lucky.

They had died innocent.

Leontius left the room, and went back to the throne entry after that. He slowly walked through, not knowing what to expect.

As Leontius walked into the throne room, he saw a tall and broad-shouldered figure slightly bent over. They were covered by a royal purple cloak and golden pauldrons. The figure was watering some of the flowers that made up the room's floor, humming. He then stood up a little straighter, revealing the crown atop his head. Leontius went a little closer, his thick-leathered and metal-reinforced boots making audible steps on the grassy floor that seemingly demolished the silence of the room.

"Oh? Is someone there? Just a moment! I have almost finished watering these flowers." The king gave a few shakes of a watering can, sprinkling the last drops on the last flowers. "...Here we are!" He turned, a smile on his face before he even saw his visitor. "Howdy, how can I…"

The moment his eyes rested on Leontius, Asgore dropped his watering can in surprise and took a few steps back.

"Oh… my goodness."

015


	16. In the end, what's in a soul?

A/N: The longest chapter I've released to date. I had quite a lot of fun writing this one, felt like it was writing itself at some points.

016

For a few tense moments, the king and undead did nothing but inspect the other. Both were subconsciously sizing their possible enemy up, before Leontius felt he should break the ice of the settling silence.

Leontius had taken an open and straight stance, he was in the presence of an actual king and he'd not let poor posture make a bad impression of himself or his strength by being weak-stanced or shying away from eye contact, not now. "I am… a bit of a step up from small children, am I not, king?" The harshly natural grate in his voice put the king a little on edge.

Asgore was still having a hard time even dealing with the fact that the human now stood before him. "When I heard there was a human travelling through the Underground… I did not expect…" He let a big fuzzy hand free from underneath his cloak to gesture at Leontius in general, before letting it fall back in. He wasn't sure what to say he was even expecting in the first place. Another innocent child? Maybe not, but it certainly wasn't this… man, who wore pieces of armor over a tattered coat, had a face that seemed gaunt like that of someone near death, and was openly allowing his weapon to be seen sheathed at his side.

He had not been faced with such a human since the war. He could manage no mournful smile on his face, not at that memory.

The king needed to say something to the man, or they'd be having a staring contest. "So… are you here on behalf of the humans? Have you come looking to learn the fate of the children, after so long?" His voice came out a bit shakier than he'd hoped.

"In a way, I am here on behalf of my "kind," if they can even be called human anymore. But in the end, I am not here for the children, or for my people. I am here for yours. This concerns everyone in the Underground, and what you are planning on doing with those souls."

The king's face dropped more, he could only look at the flowers before the human's feet. "You know about my promise to them, then. I… regret it so much, but… I must go through with it, for them." Asgore then turned away, before starting to head to the next room. He spoke as he went. "You know what we must do."

Leontius began following the king. "Asgore." The king simply ignored him and kept going, walking through an archway not unlike the ones in the Ruins. When Leontius followed through as well, he found that he'd seemingly stepped into a pulsating, gray, endless hallway. Asgore stood before him, a regretful look dominating his features. Seven cylinders slid up from the ground, containing 6 colorful and heart-shaped human souls.

"This is the barrier. This is what keeps us trapped underground."

Leontius took another step forward, getting the king to look at him. "Asgore. This situation has factors and, should you go through with it, ramifications that you cannot begin to fully grasp. There are things you do not know that would make you drop this plan this very second should you learn them."

Asgore managed to look both hopeful and doubting about that statement at the same time. "And what would those things be?"

Leontius took a deep "breath" before beginning to tell the tale once more. "The surface fell to chaos long ago. It is not a prospering home for humans, it is not a salvation for your people. If you break or cross that barrier and announce your presence to the horrors that dwell above… you, your people, everyone in the underground… you will all be overtaken by hordes of immortal, soul hungering undead humans that have no reason or remorse. That magical barrier is the only thing hiding you from them, the demons, dark spirits, dragons, corruptions, and disasters of the surface. It is the one thing that ensures the evil and true darkness that has taken the surface does not leak into here. The Underground is the last bastion of peace and civilization. I tell you now, as someone who has spent countless eons stuck in an endless cycle of experiencing what is above, end your plan. You should hope you never see anything else from above. Humanity has, and we have suffered plenty for what we did to monster kind during the war. We have already gotten what we deserved."

Once more, the ruler of the Underground was struck speechless. "If what you say is true, human, why aren't you trying to kill and destroy everything in sight… are you the one exception?"

The undead couldn't help but smile grimly at Asgore calling him a human. "I never said or implied I am not one of the undead. I am, but I am in better condition than most." To prove his point, Leontius untied the two topmost bindings of his coat and pulled the tattered collar of his shirt to expose the Death Mark over his heart for Asgore to see.

The king squinted at the unhealthy looking mark. "What… is that?"

Leontius then recovered his chest and tied his coat closed, explaining the mark as he did so. "The Death Mark. This brands all of humanity. Those marked are cursed to suffer a torturous existence. Those marked are doomed to eternally search out souls to quench the hunger they feel after losing theirs countless times. Those marked are bound to go mad and become hollow inside. Those marked die countless times, and are reborn just as many. Like everyone else, I have gone through all of that."

Asgore eyed the undead suspiciously. "So… that means you've…"

"Killed other undead? Yes. Countless hordes of them."

"Then how are you sane…?"

"Toriel."

Asgore looked shocked. "W-what?"

"I met Toriel, she was the… second... monster I met. She… gave me something that fixed me inside. She-"

"L! Asgore!" As if she had been called upon, the motherly monster herself rushed through the entry to the barrier, slightly out of breath.

The hits were sure rolling in today for Asgore. He could feel a well of hopeful happiness coming over him. He was a bit confused by what she was wearing, he did not remember her ever having such an odd black cloak. "Tori! You came back!"

Toriel came to a stop and stood by Leontius, leaning against him as she regained her breath. "Do not… "Tori" me... Dreemurr."

Asgore looked between the two, his hope dropping. "I'm… so confused, what is going on?"

"I was not quite done telling him, well, about us, Toriel." 

Asgore looked even more desperate. "Us?"

Toriel shot the king a glare. "Yes Asgore, us. L and I-" Leontius leaned over to whisper something to her, getting a surprised and glad reaction from her before she continued. "-Leontius and I met when he fell into the mountain. He was attacked and incapacitated by a rather vicious flower, after that, we started getting to know each other better. Unlike you, Leontius is determined enough to actually come through with his plans. And-"

"Golly, I'd absolutely hate to interrupt this tender and emotional moment, but…" A pair of gigantic thorny vines burst from the glowing ground and picked up Toriel and Asgore. Leontius was knocked off balance since he was leaned against Toriel, and stumbled back first into the pulsing wall of the barrier. The vines lifted the two boss monsters high into the air, then held them there, their expressions pained as the sharp vines writhed with them inside.

"...I think someone mentioned a rather vicious flower!" That voice, that happy, deceiving voice. Leontius found that the source of the voice was none other than Flowey, the very first thing he met in the Underground. Flowey had popped up where Asgore had been standing, amongst the now empty soul containers. Leontius undid his sheath's latch and quickly pulled his claymore on the flower, taking a defensive stance. The flower simply smiled wider.

"You IDIOTS. While you three were having your little soap-opera, I took the human souls! And now… not only are those under my power, in a few moments, I'll absorb the soul of every monster in the Underground!" Leontius' grit his teeth in anger at the flower and stepped forward to point his blade at the flower.

"Not if I hack you in twain before you can do it."

Flowey gave him a trivialized look. "Really? I don't know if you know this… but with six souls I'm nearly unstoppable! And whoever said…" A sudden bright flash issued, blinding Leontius suddenly. A deafening sound rang out soon after, overlapped by a horrific voice.

"...THAT I'D EVER LET YOU GET NEAR ME OUTSIDE OF MY FINAL FORM?!"

The blinding light and deafening sound stopped suddenly and Leontius found himself in a pure black void, with a young child-like monster before him, not facing his direction. The child had white fur, long ears, bare fuzzy-furred hands and feet, a green and yellow striped shirt, and light-purple pants. For a few moments, Leontius was sorely confused as to what was happening and could not find the ability to speak. He lowered his sword a little, eyes locked onto the child. For some reason, the child's appearance messed with his head, like he should know…

A name floated on his mind. It was no longer a question. It was now a statement.

"Asriel."

The boy was testing his hands, looking at them, before giving a delighted laugh.

"Finally. I was so tired of being a flower." The boy then turned around to Leontius, and gave him a smile. Howdy Characas! Are you there? It's me, your best friend. You've grown up!"

Another brief flash, and the boy had been replaced by an adult version of himself, complete with black robes styled like his mother's. He was floating above the ground, his happy smile replaced with a smug grin. Asriel eyed Leontius with reverse-colored black sclera and white pupils. Black markings snaked across his cheeks, bordering his face. Adult horns had grown in, bending outwards unlike both of his parents' inward horns. The grin became a sneer as he caught Leontius' blanked expression.

A deep and demonic voice ushered from him. "I've grown up too."

With a snap of his fingers, the void burst into an array of color. Asriel began to float ominously as his hands began to charge with multi-colored energy. The monster left a rainbow after-image as he moved around. Leontius finally got a grip, then got back into his stance, blade ready. He was unsure just how strong Asriel would be, but how far could 6 human souls and a large number of weaker monster souls possibly take him?

Asriel then let out a laugh before raising his arms and vanishing. A loud racket somewhere high above made Leontius look up. He saw a vast number of falling massive star-shaped projectiles, all headed in his vague direction.

The undead did his best to dodge the projectiles and their explosions upon landing. He'd managed to roll away from one last bigger projectile before finally getting blasted by its explosion. The hit had sent him off-balance and scrambling mid-roll. He'd righted himself just as Asriel appeared once more. The monster nonchalantly floated just out of reach, before holding his hands up with indifference.

"You know, I don't care about destroying this world anymore." He then raised his arms and began flinging bolts of lightning at Leontius, who barely caught that they weren't aimed directly at him, but rather where he was going to be the next second. He had to move erratically to dodge the bolts. The impacts of the lightning created jarring sounds that boomed rapidly, one after the other. A wave of the bolts then started heading towards him in a line. Leontius backstepped as the line passed, only to have even stronger bolts start striking next to him on all sides. He found himself dodging and rolling back and forth. Finally, the bolts relented and Asriel appeared. He seemed to be enjoying himself.

'How am I supposed to hit him if I have to keep dodging, and even when he attacks he simply vanishes!' Leontius supposed sending some stronger soul arrow attacks at him could do something. Before he could ready the attack, Asriel suddenly dropped to the ground and slowly advanced on him.

"After I defeat you and gain total control over the timeline… I just want reset everything." Suddenly a pair of sabers materialized in his hands, and he leapt across the distance separating them, and attacked with them simultaneously. Leontius barely had time to register he was being attacked thanks to Asriel's sheer speed. He'd managed to edge-on-edge block the blades and parried them away. Asriel went with the flow, and instead of being knocked off balance he had spun away and landed on a foot before pivoting and sprinting back over to continue his assault. He began attacking with alternating, flowing swings, and Leontius either had to block or lean to prevent being hit.

Asriel was good, but he had not been a swordsman for countless millenia. He had made a pattern, a set speed. Leontius anticipated the next strike in his consistent flurry and parried it with his claymore's crossguard, then sent the saber and Asriel towards the ground. Asriel let the saber go free and once again allowed himself to take the parry, only to reverse his momentum by flopping off the ground and launching himself airborne. He gave the undead swordsman an entertained laugh and flung his other saber towards him. The blade exploded into small star projectiles as it flew, forcing yet another dodge on Leo's part. Once Leontius had finished his quick side step, he was once more dodging gigantic falling stars. He'd managed this barrage better, and got far enough away from the final explosion so that it did not damage him. This was followed up immediately by another lightning attack. Through all of this, Asriel was nowhere to be seen. This battle was really testing Leo's endurance and dodging skill. The lightning attack came to an end just like the last one, and Asriel showed himself once more. He'd resummoned his sabers and seemingly teleported to the ground before sprinting towards Leontius once more. This time the undead ran to meet him midway, going for a quick thrust attack. Asriel put a spin on himself and moved out of harm's way, before attempting to follow through with a flowing slash from his right saber. Before he finished the spin, Leontius interrupted the dodge by slamming the large pommel of his claymore into Asriel's exposed back, sending him forwards and away.

As the two times before, Asriel took the counter in kind. He tucked himself to roll over his shoulder and land in a squat position, before flinging the sabers away and launching into the air again. The sabers seemed to boomerang about before pointing at Leontius and exploding into projectiles heading his way. Leontius was beginning to get flustered by Asriel's constant ad lib comebacks to his trained and tried counters. As the projectiles closed in, Leontius invoked the power of his claymore's talisman and manifested it as an outward force wave that dissipated the most of the stars and sent the rest off course.

Asriel was once more taunting Leo midfight. "All your progress… everyone's memories. I'll bring them all back to zero!" He followed the taunt up with another lightning attack. Instead of dodging, Leontius stood his ground and deflected them with forcewaves when he could, and dodged when needed. The final strong bolts were too great to simply force away, so he had to move out of their way.

"Then we can do everything all over again."

More star projectiles. More force counters. Leontius was also charging sorcery power in his blade. It was time to get on the offensive.

Asriel narrowed his eyes at Leontius, and his voice sounded dangerous enough to actually inflict pain. "...And you know what the best part of all this is? YOU'LL do it!" He then summoned a large and ornate looking weapon, held with both of his hands. He aimed the weapon at Leontius and started sending a hail of shots in a multi-shot-automatic nature, slowly floating to get to ground level as he fired. Leontius had kept a near constant orb of force to stop them, suddenly exploding the bubble outwards with a massive soul arrow that was larger than even he was. The projectile detected Asriel and sped towards him, the winding soul energy leaving distortion in the colors of the void in its wake. Both Asriel and Leontius took each other's projectiles. Asriel had been caught off guard by the massive retaliation, and Leontius had been peppered with shots from Asriel's Chaos Buster rifle.

Both attacks did little to their intended target.

After they had shrugged off each other's attack, they had resumed battling. Leontius had begun casting numerous sorceries, miracles, and hexes with his charged power. Names of spells rapidly filed through his head, memorized after unfathomable ages of using them.

'Resonant weapon, homing crystal soul mass, pursuers, magic barrier, tranquil walk of peace, sacred oath…' As he casted as many spells as he could, he began readying his pyromancy as well. He was now one-handing his claymore as he readied for the next clash. Asriel had been powering up as well, he now held a single chaos saber in one hand, and held the Chaos Buster in the other. He was getting his other attacks adapted to fire from his saber like Leo had fired the attack from his.

Once the two finished powering up, They charged each other and began blasting away. Asriel was sending countless chaos buster rounds at Leontius, and Leontius was firing soul arrows, soul spears, and barrages of smaller version of the two. Both fighters were taking hit after hit now, but their sheer endurance allowed them to keep going. The chaos rounds were pelting against Leo's strong magic barrier, and an occasional swing from Asriel's saber would send a bolt of lightning his direction every now and then. The two got into closer range and then the real fight began. Leontius' prepared homing projectiles surged forth and washed over Asriel in a wave of darkness, shattering crystals, and weaponized soul energy. Asriel pushed through and began slicing at Leontius. Suddenly he found his movements horribly slowed. Leontius had also casted the pyromancy he'd readied. Iron flesh. The chaos saber harmlessly glanced off his magically and physically toughened body, the slashing weapon sparking off of him. Leontius then struck viciously, tanking through the blows. His dark imbued and enchanted claymore slashed and pierced Asriel's godlike form, but it was still not outright damaging him as much as he thought it would. Asriel did his best to backstep, but both fighters were slowed to the same pace by Leo's magic and viciously slashing away at each other. Both stopped their flurry at the same time and readied strong melee attacks, Leontius channeled the power of the Dark Moon into his claymore once the Resonance wore off, and Asriel charged as much chaos energy in his saber as he could. The two unleashed the attacks at the same time, and both hits connected simultaneously. Asriel was sent flying to the left, and Leontius' iron flesh pyromancy shattered and fell away in large broken plates shaped like himself, breaking on the floor of the void.

Once both of the supernatural warriors had recovered, they both prepared their strongest ranged attacks. Asriel had dissipated his saber and took hold of the Chaos Buster in two hands once more, then charged up its beam cannon. Leontius had extinguished his pyromancy in his left glove and, like Asriel, wielded his main weapon with both hands. He was charging up a focused soul energy attack, a constant beam of normally fatal soul energy. They finished charging the attacks at the exact moment the other did, and released them the next. Asriel's rainbow colored chaos laser and Leo's pure blue quad beamed soul attack intercepted. The two held the dual of power for what seemed like an eternity. With a synchronized yell, the warriors put their last bit of energy into the next few moments of the clash. Leontius had forced a hex-powered spell through his sword, converting his beams to pure black as he fired raw and untamed soul energy, and Asriel had called directly upon the six human souls to empower his laser even further. The two titanic attacks collided even stronger now. They held this enhanced dual for only a few seconds before the attacks finally fell and died out. Leontius was magically tapped, he'd spent the last bit of power in that attack, yet Asriel still stood with that smug grin. Thankfully, he seemed not quite able to taunt him.

But that wouldn't stop him from trying.

"Now… ENOUGH messing around! It's time to purge this timeline once and for all!"

Asriel floated up slowly and vanished again. In his place, an enormous skull appeared and let out a horrendous laugh. The skull then opened its maw as wide as it could and began sucking in all the color of the void, Leo's sight became distorted and waved to the point where he couldn't see a thing, and he could feel himself being tugged towards the skull. A flash of all-consuming pain overcame him and the colors came back instantly after. He was still standing, but that attack had rendered the void black once more. Asriel still floated before him, almost genuinely surprised.

"...Even after that attack, you're still standing in my way…? Wow. you really ARE something special. But don't get cocky. Up until now I've only been using a fraction of my REAL power! Let's see how well you hold up to THIS!" Asriel began to distort and change, and the bright flash that signified his transformations followed. When it passed, a god had taken his place.

Asriel hardly looked the same. His body had become like a flowing shadow, with great wings spanning from his back. Leontius was too awed to notice it, but in this form Asriel resembled the Delta Rune.

The angel who'd seen the surface had returned. He made the Underground go empty. The God of Hyperdeath had been revealed. Leontius was unsure of how to approach the situation, he thought back to battling the Four Lords in the Void. Perhaps he could close in.

The moment he tried to run forward, Asriel lifted a hand and Leontius found himself frozen in place. He could feel a non-corporeal hand holding him still. He tried to struggle, but that made Asriel laugh more. The god then raised his arms and fired a volley of chaos projectiles from his hands, and Leontius could do nothing but take the hits. He could not move an inch as the shots impacted his soul.

"I can feel it. Every time you die… your grip on this world slips away. Every time you die, you forget a little more. Your life will end here, in a world where you know nothing." He sent another volley of shots, trying to push Leontius closer to death, but the undead stubbornly resisted the attacks and held on. He still had a vast pool of his vitality and physical endurance left, but he could do nothing to make use of them if he was restrained.

"You're still hanging on? That's fine. It won't be too long from now, you'll forget everything. That attitude will serve you well in your next life!" Another dual handed blast of projectiles came in and impacted against Leontius.

The god laughed at him. "Still? Come on… show me what good your determination is now!" Even more shots. Leontius could feel the wear. He could feel his soul now, the shots were affecting it like he'd never felt before. He could feel… souls. More that just his. Asriel had the souls of everyone inside him, and Leontius was an undead. He had an affinity for snatching souls away from others. He began to struggle again, this time to just touch his sword's talisman… with the power he had left, he could save everyone else.

There.

'Wrath of the Gods.'

A divinely powerful holy blast issued forth from Leontius' body, breaking Asriel's hold on him easily. He sheathed his sword and readied a power he had not used in a long time, forgotten and lost to him in a past cycle, but remembered in his direst moment all thanks to Sans.

The soul-gripping Dark Hand technique, used by black phantoms to tear the very soul and humanity from a target.

Leo ran full speed to the recoiling god as his hands were coated with increasingly dark powers, and made an acrobatic leap up onto Asriel's chest. The floating god fell and ended up on his back, with his wings flailing madly. Leontius then plunged his phantom hands into Asriel's chest and grasped at the souls of those contained within. First he pulled Asgore and Toriel free, then Sans and Papyrus, Alphys, Undyne, then he began to almost dig away through the god, shoveling more and more souls free of him.

"NO! STOP IT! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? GET OFF ME!" The god seemed to be panicking, watching as the souls left him to rematerialize outside of the void as their respective monsters across the Underground. Before Leontius managed to reach the six human souls, Asriel charged up his strongest attack in this form. As soon as it was ready, he let it loose right into the human on his chest, sending a wide ray of chaos energy right into him, blasting the undead clear of him. The expense in power, coupled with the one-human-soul equivalent loss in strength caused him to weakly stay on his back. His wings began to shrink and fade in color, his shadowed body was less violently flowing.

Leontius had been blown off Asriel, but the last of his magic barrier had taken the brunt of the attack before it shattered under the stress. He got up from the floor of the void and slowly walked over to Asriel, the entire front of his body smarting and feeling like it had been lit aflame. Leontius' Dark Hand was still active, and could still sense the human souls inside Asriel. But something more began resonating within the god, there was more than just the humans to save. But who…?

"Asriel." The undead called out the god's name.

"H-huh? What are… what are you doing…!?" Asriel managed to lift his head and catch the sight of Leontius walking to him, with pure determination set across his expressionless face. The sight did something to him. "What's this feeling…? What's happening to me? No! No… I don't need anyone…" The undead continued to close in. "Stop it! Get away from me… do you hear me?! I'll tear you apart!" Still not listening.

"Characas… do you know why I'm doing this? Why I keep fighting to keep you around…?" His body began to fall away, it was not capable of holding this god form any longer. The shadows began to fall away little by little, catching aflame as they went. "I'm doing this… because you're special, Characas... you're the only one that understands me… you're the only one who's any fun to play with anymore…" More of his body began to fall away. "No… that's not just it… I… I'm doing this because I care about you, Characas… I care about you more than anybody else…" His wings had burnt away entirely. Leontius now stood just before him, watching him dissipate.

Leontius looked down to the misguided monster. He was still just a child, and he was even imagining that he was speaking with Characas, not some totally different human.

"I'm not ready for this to end… I'm not ready for you to leave… I'm not ready to say goodbye to someone like you again…" He was so weakened now… "So please… stop doing this… and… let me win…" Leontius stood just as firmly, piercing him with that determined gaze. "Stop it… stop it now…" the last of his god-form was vanishing. "Characas… I'm so alone, Characas… I'm so afraid, Characas… I… I…

Once again, the bright flash signified Asriel had changed. He had turned back to his child form, and stood crying, the undead warrior sadly looking down at him.

"I'm so sorry." The boy wiped some of his tears away and sniffled before looking up at the tall undead. "I always was a crybaby, wasn't I, Characas… I know… You're not actually Characas, are you?" He got a confirmatory nod from the undead. "Characas has been gone for a long time… um… what IS your name?"

"Leontius. You can call me Leo, however."

"Leo? That's a nice name… Leo, I haven't felt like this for a long time. As a flower, I was soulless. I lacked the power to love other people. But when I had everyone's souls inside me, not only did I get my compassion back, I know about every monster's as well. They all care about each other so much… and my mom really cares about you. A lot…" The boy awkwardly smiled at the grown undead. "Monsters are weird. You two really like each other… she really loves you… Leo, I… understand if you can't forgive me. I understand if you hate me. I acted so strange and horrible. I hurt you. I hurt so many people. Friends, family, bystanders… there's no excuse for what I've done…" The boy looked down and sniffled, tears welling again.

"... I forgive you, Asriel."

"W-what? Leo, come on… you're… you're gonna make me cry again… besides, even if you do forgive me, I cannot keep the souls of the humans inside me…" The boy looked down at his feet steadily, before he forced the six souls out of him, and let them go free into the void like the monster souls.

"I have to go now. Without the power of the souls, I can't keep maintaining this form. In a little while…" Tears started to fall freely again. "I'll turn back into a flower… I'll stop being myself. I'll stop being able to feel love again. So… Leo. It's best if you just forgot about me, OK? Just… go be with who loves you…" The boy's eyes closed as he began to sob. Leontius looked to the child, before quietly going to comfort the boy. He dropped to a knee to be at his height, then lifted the boy's head up by the chin to get Asriel to look at him.

"Asriel. You do not have to become that maniacal flower again."

The boy was still tearing up. "But… without the souls…"

"You don't need those souls…" The undead powered up his Dark Hand in his free right hand, then set his normal left on on the boy's shoulder gently. He then pushed the dark hand inside himself, and grasped at his own soul slightly. Using the soul control granted by the power, he removed a miniscule, near dust-like piece of his own soul and pulled it from his chest, wincing as he freed it from inside himself. He held the dark soul fragment for the boy to see, then began to reform and shape it to the correct proportions for a monster. He even got it upside down… and as he stretched the new soul, the darkness died away, spreading across it and becoming that normal gray color every monster soul shared. "...you can have a piece of mine…" He then offered the soul to the boy, letting his dark hand power fade. The boy looked between the undead and the soul fragment reverently. The tears came back.

"You… you're giving me a piece of yourself so I can stay?" The undead nodded, then held it closer for Asriel to absorb. The boy gingerly, and ever so carefully took the fragment of Leontius' soul into his own hands. He looked at it in awe, then slowly pushed it to his chest, letting it fill the emptiness inside. He felt normal again, he felt like he was whole. The young boy's tears began again, this time tears of joy. He grabbed the undead and hugged as much of him as he could, surprising him.

"Thank... you so... much, Leo…" His voice was irregular, sniffles and tears of true happiness went unbidden for the first time. Leontius slowly returned the hug, patting the young monster on the back.

The void fell away around the two, and they could feel themselves going someplace familiar to the both of them…

016


	17. Between two worlds

017

He was in that darkness again. After that feeling of movement from the void, Leontius had blacked out and was in a situation not unlike the odd dream he had in the Waterfall Cavern, after Undyne broke the boardwalk he'd been on. It felt similar as well, like it wasn't just his mind or consciousness. Like it was shared…

"Hello." An image of a human child slowly faded in from the dark unconsciousness, he appeared to be around twelve, maybe thirteen years old. The teen had a familiar solemn look and air about him, something Leontius himself sported all too often. He was wearing an outfit quite similar to Asriel's…

The boy nodded his head as Leontius thought of Asriel, and things became clear. This was Characas, the human child Toriel and Asgore had adopted long ago.

"You've managed to save Asriel. That's… impressive. I've seen Frisk go down a similar path plenty of times, but Asriel always went soulless in the end… I'm actually glad it happened different in this timeline." Characas gave an inquisitive look.

"You've… heard about me. I know you have. I'm sure you know I wasn't exactly the nicest when I was alive. I was quite hateful, towards a lot of things. Humans, specifically. I _mostly_ ended up like this when I learned about the war, it made me resent our people… it made me want to destroy them. But… after being stuck in this timeline with these… consequences… over and over… I've seen our kind suffer in ways that make even my skin crawl."

How do you know… you had died long before the surface fell to chaos.

"Well, when you're in a situation as… unique? Yeah, unique, as mine, you're pretty much stuck everywhere but nowhere at once. Physically, I'm buried at the spot you got really personal with when you first entered the Underground. That bed of flowers you belly flopped on, I'm under that. Toriel… mom… took me from my coffin in New Home when she left Asgore and buried me there. I'm able to appear this way to you for a few reasons; my powerful hate being one. The other though... this place, it… changed me. The monsters don't know it, but their souls are powerful in a way they don't comprehend, a way that's not able to be harnessed or used. Their exclusive presence in this magically sealed place… it's created a kind of light magical aura that permeates and affects anything that enters. Humans don't quite stay the same… so my spirit remains, even after my soul has been gone for so long. But human souls have something… darker, like an opposite."

Darker? I somewhat understand the nature of the human soul and humanity, but are you implying what I think you are…?

Characas gave a point at Leontius' general 'direction,' despite him having no form in this shared mind. "You've got it. Like the light aura that's got the Underground messing with us… and yeah, it's changed you too, but it can only do so much to undead…" After 'inspecting' Leontius, Characas continued that thought. "At least, for now…"

…?

"Anyways, what I'm getting at is that the surface might be the way it is thanks to the darkness imposed on it by sole human inhabitation. I think that because humans and monsters once lived together peacefully… and I'm willing to bet those dark and light auras were just about balanced. But then humans banished and magically sealed monsters in their own little world, and the dark started to grow… and you know what that means, you've lived it plenty of times."

So you're like me and Sans then, you know about the timelines…

"Don't forget poor Asriel. He's actually one of the biggest factors to time getting out of whack… and really, it's all my fault he ended up as a flower, all my fault why pretty much everything down here happened the way it did. My fault dad declared war… my fault mom left him. It was just some hate-fueled plan of mine that spun out of control…"

I thought you got sick…? Is that not why Asriel took you to the surface, to see the flowers of your village again?

Characas looked sullen and guilt-ridden again. "No, that's really just what mom and dad thought. It was actually a plan… I poisoned myself with buttercups, Asriel absorbed my soul, and we left the Underground. I told him we'd save the Underground by getting six more human souls, but in reality, I wanted to take control of his powerful body to kill as many people as I could. I took him over as soon as he absorbed my soul, carried my corpse through the barrier and to my village… and tried to use our power to slaughter everyone there… but he resisted and instead let himself take the hits, and got us back home. He's a good kid… but thanks to me, both our souls were gone for good after his was lost, and he ended up as a soulless flower, still corrupted by my soul's hate. But…"

Characas actually started to tear up, but he played it off like the emotionally masking teen he was, like he'd gotten some 'dust' in his eye. "You've put a stop to it. Asriel's back and he has a soul, you've broken the loop in time… and I've existed long enough in your timeline to let my hate go…" After that, Characas was silent for a while.

I need to ask you something.

Characas was at attention again. "What is it?"

This dream, or mind, whatever it is, it feels familiar. Have we shared this in the past? Perhaps after-

"-Undyne dropped you deeper into the Waterfall Cavern? Yes. When you fell on my grave, my spirit attached to you. I've been faint, since your soul is far too powerful and well in control for me to really influence you, but I've been there nonetheless. At most, I shared that dream. I had to, seeing you and mom travelling to stop dad from doing something reckless. I wanted to show you a little more, but you woke up a bit after that. In some of Frisk's timelines, I've done… far worse… things when I took them over, but you know how it is with this one." Characas was silent again, his guilt getting to him once more. A sudden shift in the consciousness rumbled suddenly, and Characas 'looked back' to Leontius.

"Seems like you guys have arrived. You'll be waking up soon, and I'll be leaving you. Hopefully, I'll be able to rest now, knowing things have finally been solved… goodbye Leontius. Take care of Asriel and mom for me."

Characas immediately vanished, and the dream was dashed away by voices from the waking world…

/

Leontius suddenly regained consciousness and sat up, looking around in a slight panic from the awakening. He was back in the Barrier area, with Asriel asleep at his right side. Looking away from the image of the endless hallway and the young boy, he noticed Toriel and Asgore to his left towards the exit arch. The two seemed to be arguing quite animatedly about something, and just as Toriel was about to poke Asgore's chest out of annoyance, she caught sight of Leontius. She seemed to forget all about Asgore and started briskly walking over to where Leontius was sitting with a deeply worried look. She had not yet seen Asriel, who was hidden from view by Leontius' large frame and coat. Toriel stood before him and was about to say something when Leo shifted out of the way, sitting against the barrier wall in an almost tired fashion, all while giving Toriel an expectant look.

"Look who I found, love…"

The second Toriel laid eyes on her son, brought back from oblivion, she was rendered speechless.

In a state of near-complete shock, she fell to her knees next to Asriel and slowly touched his face, making sure he was real, making sure she wasn't just dreaming. Toriel was speechless. Asriel was back. She silently fell into a sitting position next to Leontius and pulled Asriel up into her arms, holding onto him like he'd disappear if she let go. She started to slowly rock with Asriel in her arms, nearly about to break down into tears of happiness.

"My child…" She looked over to Leo, needing to know how this was possible, but she could not find the ability to get the words out. Leontius did not speak either, but he gave her one of his rare smiles that were reserved just for her. He wasn't quite in the state to give the long-winded explanation he'd need to make sense of this to her anyways, the boy had given his soul quite the battering in his godlike forms. He found that his claymore and one of Asriel's Chaos Sabers had ended up appearing a short distance away from him, and tiredly made to inch his sword over to him with his boot, he felt like he'd need some healing magic, especially after removing a part of his soul (even though it was a small piece, the effects were still evident). Once he got the weapon near him, he grasped at the talisman and recalled the aspects of the first healing spell that came to his mind, then released the talisman and let the magic rejuvenate him as he leaned back against the barrier wall with a breathless sigh. Mid-spell, he felt Toriel scoot over and lean against him. She was rubbing the sleeping boy's head, still just as overwhelmed as any mother would be in her situation.

Asgore had also come over to see Leontius, but he was rendered just as speechless as his ex-wife. As he looked at the three, his earlier hopelessness before the flower attacked only got worse. He felt like a weighty depression was setting in. He'd just learned his promise to get monsters to the surface was pointless, found out Toriel had entirely moved on from him, and with a human no less. He'd been attacked by some flower… thing, blanked out, the six souls were gone... and to top it all off, the human reappears with his son somehow back from death. He could do nothing but look at what he'd lost in utter regret. The king simply hung his head, but he wanted to ask the human-undead-whatever he is, how he'd gotten his son back.

"Leontius… I… must ask you, how… what… please, explain to me, I'm just having a slight breakdown at the moment."

The undead waited a few moments, his healing spell was nearly finished, sighing in relief as it ended. "...It is a… complex story, if you would like something more or less condensed." After a wordless nod from Asgore, Leo continued. "That flower that attacked was actually the soulless husk of your son, a completely different personality to Asriel. After he stole the human souls… and everyone else's… he managed to revert to Asriel. He had me confused with- erm… someone else, and we did battle. It was quite the fight, considering he had become incredibly powerful. We were evenly matched for a short while, then he exposed his full power and I could do nothing as he pummeled me. I managed to break free, then use an old technique to pull and free the souls from him. After that, he came to his senses. He freed the six human souls, and then nearly accepted that he would vanish too, having no soul. But I… gave him a piece of mine so he could stay here." After that, he looked upon the sleeping child in his mother's embrace. "It is much more complex than that… but I will just say that he has been through quite a lot, and it does not surprise me he is still sleeping."

Meanwhile, the parents had been flabbergasted to an even greater extent. Both at the fact that Leontius had given a piece of his soul to Asriel, and Toriel at the knowledge that, in a way, her son had attacked Leontius, and she had attacked him. But she put it out of her mind.

She had her child again, and Leontius had made it possible. He'd even given up a piece of himself for her son.

Asgore could only feel that depression get a little heavier at the knowledge. No doubt Asriel would look up to him for that in the future…

With a sigh, the now blue-mooded king felt like making a suggestion. "If it's alright with you two, I'm going to return to my home… you're welcome to join me there until he wakes up." He then left the Barrier room, his feet feeling like they were made of lead.

Leo and Toriel sat for a few more moments, before Toriel leaned over and surprised Leontius with a loving kiss on the cheek, which would have made the undead blush… if he could have physically done so. He returned the kiss in kind then stood, stretching to get his slightly healing-numbed body feeling normal. He then picked up both his and Asriel's sword, sheathing his own and inspecting the Chaos Saber. The black blade felt incredibly light, and it was quite fluid-feeling in the hand, like it just begged to be used in Asriel's odd and dramatic fighting style…

Toriel watched him inspect the weapon, and got curious. "What is that? I don't think I have seen you use that sword, is it from your box?"

Leo gave the blade a careful and slow swing with just his wrist, the lithe blade giving no resistance. "No, this is actually one of Asriel's swords- I say "one of" because he summoned quite a few- but he did not desummon or destroy this one." After that, he opened up his box on his belt and let it pull the weapon in.

Toriel gave a huff and looked down at her son, before standing and holding Asriel out to Leontius. "Could you carry him? He is a bit heavier than I remember." Leontius carefully took Asriel from her, cradling the peacefully sleeping boy and taking care to not disturb him too much. The duo then headed to Asgore's home, side by side as they walked, and Asriel didn't stir much as they went.

But while they walked, Leontius' mind worked away at what Characas had told him. It wasn't long until his ruminations took a back seat to Toriel when she had walked closer to him, close enough for him to give her a quick peck on the cheek…

017


	18. Dreamers

018

After what seemed to be an endless and depressing slog of a walk home, Asgore felt like all he could really do was just sit in his chair by the fireplace and wait. The events of the last hour or so felt like they about the same caliber of things he'd previously experienced in terms of impact. The king leaned back in his chair and absentmindedly ran a paw through his beard, trying to at least get himself together before Toriel and the undead arrived.

Perhaps he could try and look on the bright side… while he was no longer able to complete his plan, he no longer had to kill anyone else. And hey, how was he supposed to know that the surface would change the way it did? It was also simply in his nature to not want to actively seek out people to hurt them…

That last thought only led to remind him of why Toriel had left him in the first place…

The king tiredly buried his face in the fuzz of his paws then dragged them down, groaning as he did so. Really though, knowing that he could drop the dread of having to kill another human was like having a weight lifted from his shoulders. The countless times he'd hope that the next day wouldn't be the one… and at the same time that it would be, so his people would go free of the Underground and his indecision. He was quite thankful that he would be able to rest easy, at least until he had to tell the people of the Underground the bad news…

'Being king is becoming increasingly stressful.'

Just as Asgore was about to continue his seemingly pointless attempts at self comfort he looked up in time to see Toriel come up from the stairwell with Leontius in tow. The man was carrying Asriel, and seeing that did Asgore no favors.

Toriel pointed to the hallway, guiding Leontius. "His room should be the first one, his bed will be on the right side." Leontius nodded, and carefully opened up the door with a stiff motion, so as to not wake Asriel, and then he vanished inside. Toriel watched him go into the room before she joined Asgore in the living room, pulling out one of the table chairs not covered by Asgore's cape and sitting in it. She and Asgore promptly began something akin to a staring contest, with Toriel giving a glare and Asgore acknowledging it with a look of meekness.

He wondered if she wanted to restart their previous argument.

Toriel slowly tore her gaze away from him and looked about the room, analysing everything, finding things were in the exact position she had last had them in. The fact that her home and Asgore's share the exact same look, -bar the material color choices- (that was Asgore's doing, he is not the best with home or name design… really, who opts for a uniform gray?) was not lost to her either. "I see you have kept the house… eerily similar to how It was when I left."

Asgore could only half-shrug. "Yes, I didn't quite know what to do with it, I do not have your expertise in having things just right, so I figured keeping it the same was for the best. Why bother with… hrmm… perfection?" He really regretted how awkward that last bit came out. Toriel wasn't exactly impressed with the flattery either.

She folded her arms and gave her ex a scrutinizing look. Meanwhile, Leontius had returned from putting Asriel to bed. Despite his normally considerable presence, the ex-queen and ex-husband hardly acknowledged his entrance, so he just decided sitting next to Toriel on one of the identical table chairs would be best.

With a huff, Toriel came to a verdict. "Well, it is rather unhealthy, if I must say so, Asgore. It is actually somewhat disturbing in a way, now that I know."

Asgore inspected his surroundings now that he was feeling self-conscious thanks to his living conditions, starting to judge himself a little for never really changing anything. "Well… I suppose I could…" He tried to find something in his immediate vicinity to change, then realised. He scooted his chair from it's normally exact position to the opposite side and orientation, now comfortably facing the table and chairs.

He gave an expectant smile. "Better?"

Toriel rolled her eyes, was he being serious? "...A little."

"Ah! Good! Anyways… hrm…" Asgore's eyes finally fell on Leontius, and he decided seeing just who he was would be a good idea. He and Toriel had fallen for each other, after all. The undead was occupied with his equipment belt; It was bothering his sitting position, so he was trying to undo and set it aside. "So… Leontius, we have not actually gotten acquainted yet." The undead managed to get the belt off and put it aside just as Asgore spoke. He caught the king's gaze just as he got more comfortable.

"That is correct, we have not formally introduced ourselves. I am Leontius, of…" Leontius then seemed to have a sudden moment of clarity. When exactly had he forgotten the name of his kingdom…? "Apologies, but the name of my kingdom has been lost to me for quite some time. Nevertheless, I am Leontius, and in simple terms I suppose you could equate me to a bit of a wanderer. I am really just an errant, an explorer."

Asgore found he was amiable enough in that description, but he had not forgotten what the undead said earlier… "I am King Asgore Dreemurr of The Kingdom of Monsters, and I welcome you to my home. And New Home, as well."

Leontius shortly thought about the odd naming conventions before mentally moving on. "A pleasure to meet you, King Dreemurr."

The king gave a wave of his hand at the formality and stopped slouching in his chair, leaning forward to get a better physical presence in the conversation. "Likewise. Oh, and it's alright if you just call me Asgore. Now, I am curious and must ask you, what drove you to come to my kingdom? And now that you're here… what do you plan to do?"

Leontius thought this was obvious. "As I said, I am an explorer. Mount Ebott has always been on the horizon, so I simply did what came natural, I had very little of my kingdom left to explore anyways. And now that I am here, now that I have found a place of peace, found Toriel... I simply wish to stay. Lost knowledge and experiences have recently come to light to light for me, and I tire of wandering and fighting, I am finally feeling the fatigue of my ventures. If you would allow me to become a member of your kingdom, I would be most thankful."

Asgore was thoughtful for a few moments. While Asgore had a few personal blocks disallowing him to call Leontius a "Friend," he couldn't deny that the undead had done more than enough to deserve a place among his people. Leontius had gone all the way across the Underground from the Ruins, from the way it sounded. Even though Toriel's perturbing gaze wasn't necessary in influencing his decision, it didn't make him want to deny the request either. "You've certainly earned the right, all things considered. And I do not think I'd be able to send you away anyways, it would weigh on my consciousness knowing you'd be back to a place where fighting and… killing… is necessary. So yes, you may stay."

The undead had been energized by that, knowing he'd been welcomed by the king himself. Toriel was pleased by it as well, and the two felt a mutual happiness and relief. Asgore once more tried to look on the bright side, at least Toriel was no longer going to be purposefully isolating herself thanks to what he'd done before. But there were still issues that needed to be addressed.

"Where will you be staying, then?"

Toriel and Leo had to think on that. Toriel's home in the Ruins was actually more dangerous than she had thought previously, if something from above could fall down at any time. Leontius doubted he'd enjoy living in a sprawl like New Home with so many people around. The two had a hushed conversation, and came to a conclusion.

"We will be staying in Snowdin."

"Ah, a smaller place then. People have been wanting to move there lately, I hear it's quite cozy. I can have a message sent out there to purchase a home in your names, that's well within what I think you'd get for practically saving my kingdom from myself."

Leontius was quite surprised at that, but thankful nonetheless. "That is very gracious of you, Asgore. Thank you."

The king waved a hand in dismissal of the thanks. "Don't worry about it…"

And now he had to address the biggest issue.

"Now… this is going to be a sensitive topic, but what about Asriel?" The ensuing silence was almost palpable. Both Toriel and Asgore were unsure about that. Who would have custody of Asriel? They hadn't been thinking of that much, at least not before Asgore had brought it up. Meanwhile, Leontius was beginning to understand the implications of it if Asriel ended up going with him and Toriel…

Asgore was torn, now that he was really thinking about it. Leontius had given up a piece of his own soul to bring Asriel back, and if Asriel stayed with them, he'd have the two of them to raise him, but if Asriel in New Home with him, it would just be him doing the parenting.

Asgore hesitantly broke the thought-permeated silence with a suggestion. "Maybe… it may be best to let him decide for himself once he wakes up… although honestly, I am leaning more towards you two taking him. Leontius did give up a piece of himself to bring Asriel back, after doing battle with him when he was practically a god." Even though it wasn't particularly his place to talk about it, Leontius agreed that Asriel should at least be able to choose instead of having it decided for him, as for the rest…

"It is honestly of little consequence to me in terms of what I gave up, Asriel only needed a small fraction of a fraction from my soul to have a substitute for a monster soul. And like I said earlier, I did not do battle with him in his true form at all, I merely knocked him out of it. But I digress, would you not like to have your son back, Asgore?"

Asgore sadly leaned back once more, his kingly pep and presence faltering. "Yes, I would give anything to have him back… but he has you two to look up to if you take him. I'd just be limiting him, and since the Underground is probably going to react poorly to knowing we have no chance above, I will be busy… and quite stressed… for a long time." Asgore then leveled a glance at Leontius. "And if he does choose to go with you two… you'd better take good care of him, Leontius. He is precious, and needs people who will be there for him. Treat him like he is your own flesh and blood. He is already of your soul, so I don't doubt you will share some level of connection by nature, he will be even more tender towards you and how you interact with him."

Leontius gave a well-noted nod, maintaining eye contact to signify he was listening well and fully. "I will treat him so, Asgore. And as for the matter of souls, he told me how he felt everyone's compassion and love when he contained their souls, so I shall give him my utmost care. I know just what having a piece of me means."

"Good. As much as it would pain me, knowing he is in good hands would set me at ease." The three then fell back to a general peace and quiet. Asgore had relaxed into his chair, and Toriel and Leo began quietly catching up. Leo told her how he'd dealt with the path once they'd been separated, and Toriel told him how she'd caught up, partly thanks to an odd person who offered to give her a ride on a boat, which she gladly accepted over having to go through most of the Waterfall Cavern again. As Leo was about to get to telling her about his bizarre encounter with Mettaton's opera and actually functional colored-tile puzzle, the sound of a door creaking open seemingly smashed the settled air of quiet. The three adults found themselves looking to the hallway, and sure enough, a tired looking Asriel came walking out, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and steadying his still waking self on the wall.

He blearily tried to look around before he finally entered the room. Toriel held her arms out to him with a motherly smile, and the boy tiredly climbed up onto her lap and looked at everyone again. "Mom? What's going on?" As he settled into his mother's embrace, his thoughts started to clear as he shrugged the sleep off. He was actually back, after a nightmarish existence as a flower, he was really back to his old self. Toriel started to rub the boy's head lovingly, running her paws in a massage between his ears. "We were just having a bit of a grownup talk, my child."

He barely heard her, he was too busy trying to figure out why he felt so… funny. As he began to open his eyes and tolerate the light, Asriel spotted Leo sitting next to them. Seeing the human made the recent events come back in a rush. The fight, his god form, Leo jumping on him then pulling the monster souls out… the fight ending, Asriel releasing the human souls… then the biggest hitter. Leo had given up a piece of his own soul to keep Asriel in his actual form. He could feel resonance, an odd echo, almost as if Leo's soul was calling out to its removed piece. It was subtle, but he could feel it. Leo and Asriel's eyes locked momentarily before Asriel processed what his mom had said, and instead focused on her. Asriel did not miss the usually gaunt and neutral-faced human's expression soften though.

"What were you guys talking about?"

Toriel wasn't quite sure how to put it, so it would be best to just be truthful with her son and make it apparent. She tried to explain it slowly and carefully. "Your father and I are... not together anymore. We split up a long time ago, a while after… you and Characas left us."

Asriel didn't motion to act surprised by that at all. He already knew this, because Flowey knew this. As the flower, he'd traveled across the Underground and seen timeline after timeline, he'd done it all. He knew his parents weren't together, he knew about how Asgore had planned to use those human souls to destroy the barrier, he knew literally everything there was to know. Except for the recent events involving Leontius, because as Flowey he had some reluctance to stalk him closely, like he felt something different, something had been off. So what was different? Why would he distance himself? He didn't normally do that when-

-A blank, where a name should be, a name he felt like he should know. Why couldn't he remember who he normally followed…?

The confused child needed some more clarity. He looked between his father and mother. "Okay… what else is happening then?" His parents seemed to be a bit off put by his quick acceptance of the fact that they weren't together, but Toriel felt like she should try and word the next explanation carefully for him. "Well, when Leontius fell down here, he and I began travelling on a little quest to tell your father he needed to end his plan to break the barrier. It is complicated as to why, but along the way… Leontius and I found we had feelings for each other, and we are in a relationship now."

For a few moments, Asriel's still somewhat slowed thinking had to process that. "Oh." Asriel noticed Leo scoot a little closer to Toriel and take her free hand, then he addressed him. "We were talking about where we would be staying, since your mother sealed off her home in the Ruins, and we decided we would stay in Snowdin. We were waiting for you to wake up so we could all decide on one last thing."

Asriel could see where this was going. He wasn't quite as immature as he looked, he had aged mentally in his years as Flowey, so he could understand what was being hinted at. But his dad looked like he wanted to get a word in.

"Son, Asriel. We need to know who you want to stay with. We don't want to put you on the spot or anything, but we felt like deciding for you wouldn't be fair to you. You can stay here with me, or you can go to Snowdin with your mother and Leontius. Just… think about it for a little bit, alright pal?"

Asriel was still too tired to be making a decision like this, he'd just woken up, after all. He thought about it, like his father suggested. As he did so, he clutched his mother's unfamiliar clothing and rested his head against her chest, letting her sooth him with rubs to his ears. As a flower, he held no sadness about his family falling apart, but now that he was back to normal he couldn't be with both his mom and dad and it was hurting. Leontius seemed nice, and he had even given up a piece of his own soul… but having to be split like this…

Asriel looked pleadingly to his father, he was starting to feel cornered with this decision. "Dad, if I go with mom and Leo, will I still be able to see you?"

"That's up to your mother, Asriel." Asgore looked to her for the answer to the boy's question, and she gave it decisively. "Yes, while I may not hold your father in the highest regard anymore- I will not prevent him from seeing you, my child." Asgore gave a thankful and relieved smile, he let out a breath he had accidentally held in, then relaxed.

Asgore expectantly looked to his son, Asriel looked like he'd come to a decision. "So, son? Have you decided?"

Asriel gave a reluctant nod. "I'll go with mom and Leo…" saying it didn't seem to make him feel particularly well, but it's not like the other option would make him feel any better either. Asriel expected his father to be upset, but the king boss monster seemed fine with it. "It's probably for the best son, my job is going to be a whole lot more stressful very soon… I wouldn't have much free time to spend with you."

Asriel was still not fond of having to choose, but his father's assuring words put him at ease, and he tried to shut out the world for a few moments by burying his face against Toriel, before she patted him on the shoulder, getting him to look at her. "Let us go get you some clothes, Asriel. You will need something warm in Snowdin, after all, it is awfully cold there." Asriel gave a quite "Yeah…" and hopped off her lap, then went to back to his room with her in tow, leaving Leontius and Asgore to themselves.

The undead and king of the Underground shared a look of understanding, before Leo stood to re-equip his belt. "Asgore… you may not believe it, but I had a wife once, on the surface. I may have even had children of my own, but… I will most likely never know. My memories have been eaten away after an existence tainted by the Mark, but I know what it feels like. I cannot remember her name, her face. But I know what you are experiencing right now. I lost someone to the point that I no longer remember them in much of any capacity, I do not even know what became of her after the kingdom fell to chaos." He had his belt resecured, and approached the king in his chair. "I… I am sorry, Asgore." The king got up from his chair and held out a paw for Leo to shake. "Don't worry about it, Leontius. It's just how things havta' be." Leontius took his hand and gave a firm shake, and Asgore gave the undead a friendly pat on his shoulder as they did so. Toriel and Asriel had appeared in the living room entry, with Asriel now sporting a green coat and plain-red scarf.

The two ended the handshake and respectfully stood at height and straight posture for the other before everyone went to the front door, this goodbye would not be on bitter terms between the two. As the new trio stood to leave, Asgore started the goodbyes. "Leontius, it was nice to meet you. Toriel, Asriel… goodbye." The three returned their goodbyes, and left Asgore's home to begin the journey to Snowdin.

As he watched them leave, Asgore took in a shaky breath. His son was back, and then gone just like that. But he'd still be able to visit him, that was good. Asgore returned to his chair and slumped in it. He sat static for a few minutes before realising something.

"I still forgot to get Tori's butterscotch pie recipe…" He gave a laugh, at least something humorous could be pulled from all this.

"Oh well, there's always next time we meet."

018


	19. A place to call HOME

A/N: So Finals week is done, and now I can get back to writing. It's a bit shorter than I'd like it to be, namely due to the fact that I'm dead tired and just need to get an update out for you guys. No, the story isn't close to ending, and that big pause was just finals week being a studyguide-filled pain. Anyways, here's 19. I'll be doing some light editing soon, for whatever reason my early chapters have caught my eye and I'll get that work done tomorrow.

019

For Toriel and Leo, it went without saying that returning through the Underground was far more pleasant than the trip to Asgore had been. Not only were the two reunited, but they had Asriel along with them the entire way. As they went, the three had various talks, ranging from Toriel and Leo finishing their recounting of their separate travels, to Asriel and the aforementioned undead getting to know each other better. Leo had to bar much of the information about his time on the surface from the young Boss Monster due to its sensitive or disturbing nature, but he tried his best to be open with the boy. Despite getting much more comfortable with the idea of having Leo as a kind of father figure, Asriel was still feeling sore about having to leave his dad as soon as he saw him, but he kept in mind that he'd have chances to see him sometime in the future.

The way had been cleared of obstructing monsters and many of the shortcuts and quicker paths had been opened up, cutting travel time between the Capital and Snowdin to around half an hour of walking. They had also made use of the rivers that were throughout the Hotland and Waterfall area, thanks to a mysterious individual in a hood and overcoat who had allowed them to share a boat with them. Oddly enough, the trio couldn't quite figure out the person's gender from their voice or coated form, but the person did have one defining trait thanks to their cryptic nature. On the final boat ride, the person had beckoned to Leo after starting one of their songs. The person whispered things to him, like warnings and foretellings. They told him of a 'knight on wings with eyes of red', a 'man who speaks in hands', and finally, 'someone who's destiny is not of their own volition.' Of the three, Leo only felt like he understood the first warning, seeing as he had fought a knight who matched that description long ago, but Leo was unable to defeat him before he got away by calling down a great eagle to carry him off. The other two were totally alien to him, and attempting to ask for elaboration from the river person only made them snicker quietly and ignore him, opting to focus on piloting the boat instead of giving explanations to the unsettling foretellings. When Leontius told Toriel of the odd person's tellings, she was just as stumped as he was. When all was said and done on the ordeal, Leo felt he should be cautious for good measure, the fact that the person could accurately describe one of his past foes felt a little more than coincidental.

It would certainly not hurt to have some measure of preparedness, especially since he'd be looking out for Toriel and Asriel.

/

When the three had finally stepped off the boat, they were suddenly hit with the bracing cold of Snowdin, which for some reason didn't reach into the canals of the river. Toriel and her son pulled their clothing in closer at nearly the same time, and Leo simply stood unperturbed by the harsh climate. He turned to thank the boat person, only to notice they had seemingly left in complete silence, as if they vanished. Leo would have idly commented that they were a strange individual, but it really went without saying. Instead, he looked about the area of Snowdin they had ended up at, not recognising it until he spotted the back of the brick building known as Grillby's. The area they had been dropped off in seemed to be where much of the housing was located, with rows of snow-topped wooden homes all lit up with warm looking light pouring from their windows. The image contributed quite a bit to the town's cozy feel, with a smaller community to match.

Leontius eyed the general housing area, unsure of what to do. "So, Toriel, any clue as to who we should be talking to or where we should be looking…?" The boss monster herself seemed somewhat puzzled, but the answer came to her after she remembered how messages were usually handled in her time as queen. "If I am remembering correctly, messages are usually sent to the most conveniently-located royally employed member in the vicinity…" A look of distress started to creep across her visage, and Asriel was totally clueless what would possibly perturb his mom of all monsters. When Asriel looked to Leo, he could have sworn he saw an opposite effect on him, and he almost felt like he should be worried…

"And that would be the sentries of the town… perhaps we should ask Sans and Papyrus?" At the mention of Papyrus, Leo gave Toriel a raise of his eyebrow, knowing that she didn't quite enjoy the flashier of the two's tropes, or his spaghetti. Nevertheless, she had to agree. "I suppose that would be the best idea, we do know them. If they were not the ones to receive the message, they may point us to who did." While the two adults were talking, Asriel's split memories were starting to merge at the mention of the skeleton brothers. He didn't know them… but Flowey certainly did. He was recalling past timelines that went differently, situations in which Sans would repeatedly fight Flowey across timelines, remembering even after resets. Would Sans be able to recognise him somehow? As his mother took him by the hand and followed Leo into town, Asriel could feel a sense of dread as the thoughts started piling up, but they were cut short when he finally started paying attention to where they had ended up at. The three were close to the edge of town, with a big house a little bit ahead of them. Past the house, two unmistakable skeleton brothers were seemingly waiting at the town's limits, not looking in their direction. Asriel's dread started to mount quicker when Toriel started leading him to the two, and he hoped he didn't look like the nervous wreck he felt like he was. To be safe, me made sure to try to hide behind Toriel.

Eventually, Leo decided to get the attention of the two sentries while they walked up to them. "Sans, Papyrus!" At the sound of his voice, Sans lazily looked back at the group and Papyrus dramatically turned with exaggerated surprise, exclaiming " **AH, THERE YOU ARE, HUMAN!** "as he did so. Papyrus excitedly strode up to meet the undead and Boss Monsters, with Sans following with his ever-present casual demeanor, bony hands in his pockets like always.

When the two groups finally got in a comfortable proximity, Papyrus immediately took initiative and got the first words in, before Sans could take the opportunity. " **I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL BE THE FIRST TO WELCOME YOU BACK TO SNOWDIN… AND THE FIRST TO WELCOME YOU TO YOUR NEW HOME! WELCOME!** " Papyrus made a wide gesture to the town, his skeletal grin getting the point across as well. When his brother was done, Sans just gave an understanding nod as his own way of officially welcoming Leo to the kingdom, since Sans, unsurprisingly, already knew that Leo succeeded in dealing with Asgore, and if the odd blank everyone seemed to have shared simultaneously was anything to go by, Sans figured he'd also fought Flowey, like Frisk usually ends up doing… most of the time. "we got a call from asgore's royal aid a while ago, orders to find a vacant house for three very important people, by the names of leontius, toriel, and-" Sans noticed Asriel hiding behind Toriel, trying to avoid attention. "-asriel. i'm willing to bet that's you guys?" He gave a wink to top off his obvious feign. "anyways, nice to see ya' again. so… quick question." Sans pointed at Asriel's mostly hidden form, before continuing. "who's the kid? are we missing something here, or-" Another one of his cheeky grins, Leo and Toriel could only imagine what was next, until… "-do you two just work really fast?"

It went without saying that Sans' joking question had everyone giving him one of 'those' looks, so Toriel just decided to disarm the situation and introduce her son. Best not to give a comic ammunition, after all. She stepped aside to reveal the bundled up form of Asriel to the skeleton brothers, causing him to start almost shake at the sudden exposure.

"Ah… well, Sans, this is my son. Until recently he was… lost… but Leontius found him. It is a complicated and long story, but I am unimaginably happy to have him back again." She squeezed her son's paw comfortingly, noticing he was shaking for some reason. Something imperceptible happened next, a slight shine in Sans' left eye that stayed for a fraction of a second. No one noticed it, but that fraction of a second was all Sans needed to figure out the situation.

'well. this timeline is something else, alright. seems like this kid has a bit of leo's soul serving as his own… and some serious ties to that psychopath flower. i know for a fact that... thing, doesn't have a soul, but he's got a presence. this is way more complicated than I thought, gonna have to take it easy on the powers, though. keep it smooth, and it'll all make sense sooner or later…' Sans held out a hand for the nervous monster to shake. Asriel carefully took the offered hand and did his best to calm his own unease while he lightly shook hands with the short skeleton. It was oddly surreal for both of them, considering both, technically, had met numerous times before and only one of the two understood why this simple action felt like it wasn't their first time seeing the other. They exchanged a "nice to meet you," but Asriel's voice failed to hide its slight shudder. If Sans noticed, he didn't indicate it at all and instead shifted focus back to Leo and Toriel.

"so, i bet you guys wanna get out of this cold and check out your house, huh?" Leontius gave a nod in confirmation and Toriel was about to agree, before Papyrus once again decided to interject. " **WE DID OUR BEST TO GET IT READY FOR YOU, BUT UNFORTUNATELY IT'S NOT NEARLY AS COOL OR AMAZING AS OUR HOUSE… YOURS DOESN'T EVEN HAVE A SUPER SECRET-** " Before his brother could finish, Sans stood as tall as he could to put a hand over Papyrus' mouth to interrupt him. "aaaanyways, let's go see that house now. pap, why don't you start on tonight's spaghetti, huh? i'll be back before ya know it." Papyrus gave his brother an unsure look, which Sans quickly addressed. "if you start on it now, i promise i'll actually try it."

Toriel was agape at that statement, while Papyrus was totally sold. He excitedly ran past the group, yelling " **PREPARE TO LITERALLY EAT YOUR WORDS, BROTHER!** " as he went. Sans was starting to regret the promise just a little, but it got Papyrus busy with something else other than yelling in public. Leontius could only, once again, wonder why nobody seemed to like Papyrus' spaghetti, it tasted just fine to him. Sans let out an exasperated sigh, and decided it would be best to get going. "it's pretty easy getting to the house, just follow me." While he would have prefered just teleporting, he had more than just Leo to worry about this time around. So for once, he'd actually have to do some walking. The three wordlessly decided to just follow him, with Leo and Toriel still a bit embarrassed by Sans' suggestive joke, and Asriel reclaiming his place behind Toriel as they went trying to not get Sans' attention.

"so, leo. i know you're a bit of an introverted kinda guy, i'm willing to bet this house will be right up your alley. it's not really in the main housing area, but don't worry, it's not in the middle of nowhere or anything." He lead them through the housing they were near earlier, and onto a path that was steadily going down the side of the raised plateau-like base of Snowdin, down to the vast forests below. At the end of the path rested an unlit house, somewhat larger than Sans and Papyrus' own home. The home was positioned at the beginning of a large clearing in the forest, which seemed to expand out from the back of the building, almost as if the clearing was the backyard. In reality, this was simply a clearing for future homes, but Snowdin was yet to reach the population levels that would need to actually start building in it.

Leontius could only take in the house with a sense of awe, it was far larger than his home on the surface was. "Sans, this is quite the dwelling. Was the previous owner wealthy?" Sans simply shrugged and gave Leo what he knew. "it's the oldest house in the area, apparently. we're not really sure who lived here, but everyone wants to live up on the main area, so it's been unused for a while now. it's already hooked up to the power grid, so someone must have lived in it not too long ago and left. there wasn't a whole lot in there when we first checked it, so we brought in a few basic bits of furniture, stuff like that. anyways, you three have fun getting settled in." Leontius gave another one of his silent nods and motioned for Asriel to follow him. Asriel didn't hesitate much, only looking back to his mother, who was staying behind for a few moments to thank Sans.

Toriel gave him a thankful and relieved smile, she was granted a home again, a place to live outside of the Ruins. She knew it was thanks to Asgore, but Sans had provided some important furniture for them out of pocket, and she'd show appreciation for it. "This is a great boon to us, Sans. Thank you for setting this home up for us, sincerely."

Sans just gave a wave of his hand. "hey, don't worry about it. that's what friends are for, right?" In reality, getting a compliment from Toriel was pretty big for him. In other timelines, he had developed feelings for her, and he still remembered plenty of the good times all of Frisk's friends shared before the resets, like Toriel opening that school on the surface… he wondered where this timeline would take him. The lights suddenly came on in the house, and Toriel looked back for a moment before returning her attention to Sans to say goodbye, receiving a "see ya' round, tori" in return, then she headed inside with Leo and Asriel, shutting the door behind her.

"...and now I have to deal with spaghetti. great." With that, the skeleton took one of his 'shortcuts' and vanished without a trace.

019


	20. Settle, unsettle

Attempting to get Skyrim running with 130 mods is a pain. Anyways, here's chapter 20. Also, 31,000+ views and 82 reviews. All I can really say is… wow. A big thanks from me, again. Enjoy!

020

When Toriel joined her son and Leontius in their new house, she found that they had already started exploring about the new abode. Asriel was looking around upstairs in all the rooms, trying to take in the larger sights. Meanwhile, Leontius was still on the ground floor, he had decided to inspect the smaller details of the home. Toriel decided to join him, and allow her son to continue adventuring. Leo was checking the kitchen and dining area of the house, and while he was doing that he was removing much of his unnecessary equipment and setting it all aside on the dining table to be dealt with later. Once he had his coat off, Toriel quietly walked up behind him (thanks to her well insulated and fuzzy bare feet) and set her hands on his shoulders, initiating a slight massage through the seemingly ever-tense man's well-worn shirt once she had his attention. "So, what do you think of our new house so far?" Leo's eyes roved around the interior of the house at the question, and he came up with a verdict. "It is certainly far larger than my previous place of residence… but it is somewhat bare, despite the furnishings Sans and Papyrus gifted us." Toriel ceased her massage and stood beside Leo, seeing what he was pointing out with her trained eye for decor. "I can tell, it just does not have the makings of a 'home' yet… hmm." Her eyes passed over the table and Leo's gear, specifically his bottomless box, and she got an idea. "Dear, your box would not happen to be able to carry furniture, would it?" When he silently contemplated on it, he realised he never really tried carrying anything outside of weapons, supplies, armor, or little oddities… but he didn't see anything suggesting he couldn't do so, so he gave her a simple "It can." Pleased, Toriel pitched him her plan. "Maybe you could return to my home in the Ruins and bring back some of what I left behind? It would be nice to at least have my books back… you would be doing me a huge favor." Toriel made sure to lean close to Leo to help get her suggestion across, but he didn't need much in the way of persuasion. He figured he could use the opportunity to go through his box later, and Toriel really only needed to ask. "Of course, love. Should I just get as much as I can? I can possibly just empty out the home and bring it all here." After tossing the concept around, she felt like telling him to just stay within realistic bounds, she wasn't sure if he could literally bring the whole house or anything.

And of course, there was the issue of the sealed door.

"Another thing… I sealed the door with magic when we left, you will need a way to unseal or negate the spell." As Leo was selecting what he'd take with him (settling for just his claymore and box, the rest of his belt and equipment stayed), he nodded and thought of a sorcery that could negate strong spells. "I know of one way, but I do not know any way to seal it back once I have undone it." When he looked to Toriel, she seemed worried by that. "It could be an issue… and teaching you the spell to reseal it might take some time, depending on how quickly you grasp magical concepts and…" Leo interrupted her at that, if there was one thing he was quick with… "I am actually quite adept at learning spells, even higher powered ones. I am sure a sealing spell would not be out of my reach, I simply never needed something so specific. Just… give me a brief on its specifics and details."

While Leo and Toriel were figuring out the sealing spell together, Asriel had just finished exploring the upstairs area. He left what would be his room and went down the stairs, seeing his mother and Leo quietly talking about something by the dining table. When he walked over to them, he caught the end of what Leo was saying. "... I should be able to recreate it now." He put his coat back on and pulled his hood over his head and made for the door, turning just as he was about to walk back out into the cold. "I will be back soon, love. See you soon, Asriel." With that he shut the door behind him and he was off to the Ruins.

"Where's he going, mom? Why did he have his sword?" Toriel reached down and played with her son's hair before taking off her hunter's coat and setting it on the back of a chair, finally back to just her familiar robe. "Do not worry, my child. That is just how he is. And he is just going back to my old house in the Ruins to retrieve what I left behind, he should not take long. So, my son..." She gave Asriel a warm and loving smile, brought on by the still-fresh knowledge that she had him back. "How are you liking the new house?"

/

While Leontius made his way through the town, he could feel the eyes of the townspeople on him, just like the past few times. He knew he'd just have to get used to being around "normal" people again, even if they were a different kind of people. Eventually, they'd get used to him too. For now he would just go about his business until that happened. While he walked the path out of town and into the various Sentry areas, Leo did as he usually did and thought on things as he went. Some of the things that crossed his mind were rather important, like the fact that he'd need to get some form of income to support Toriel and Asriel. Really, Leo didn't need much at all to survive, but he wanted to be an integral part of a family again. He'd need to find some kind of job…

...the introspective undead passed right by the huge armored dog sentry's post/house, then carefully made his way across the icy path, since he no longer had his spiked silver knight boots equipped…

...But what could he do? For a few moments, he considered woodcutting, but monsters like Toriel would negate that. The ability to use fire magic in everyday needs most likely cut out the need for wood-fueled heat. Snowdin was also rather small, homes weren't quite in demand at the moment. Leo's practical skill set outside of combat was vastly deteriorated thanks to the eons spent doing nothing but fighting. He'd have to find something though. Being a sentry seemed unlikely, since the sentries and royal guards were posted solely to stop humans. Actual policing guardsmen seemed unnecessary, monsters were peaceful. Just what could he do…

...He walked right past the stone-sword wielding dog's post, not noticing the dog in question still building snow dogs with abnormal necks, then passed Papyrus' now blown away puzzles, Sans' golf course, the invisible maze, the rogue dog's post, San's post and the bridge/gate (which was now far easier to traverse, since Leo was no longer in armor), and after a long final walk, he stood before the Ruins entry.

Leo looked at the large set of doors. After all this, he was right back here.

'Now, to unseal the door.' Leo invoked the same spell he'd used on Undyne when she was pursuing him and Toriel in the Waterfall Cavern, then lobbed it at the door. The spell's purple sphere engulfed the door and began to glow brightly along the crack where the two halves of the door met, before shattering the glow like it was glass. Shortly after, the sphere shrank and dissipated, its power being sapped. Satisfied by the results, Leontius replaced his claymore and pushed his way through the large double door. Once more, he was in the long, purple-stoned hallway that was beneath Toriel's old home. Except that now, he lacked the clanking armor and boots that caused the hollow sounding and metallic echoes that would normally accompany his presence. Being in fairly normal clothing was still new to him… or was it simply just so old that it was now alien? Either way, he felt like he no longer needed to wear armor to feel safe. He was in the Underground, a kingdom that still stood- despite not being above the surface- quite tall and certainly stronger than his previous one. Leo was now in Toriel's old house, except the lights were all out. He searched for a switch; thanks to Asriel he knew that homes had switches on the walls that would turn lights on or off, quite the invention. Eventually, his hand bumped against a fixture on the wall with a protrusion… with a "click," the lights came on, and he could see the home was the same as Toriel had left it.

'And so begins the moving of a home.' He unhooked his box, and got to work…

/

About half an hour later, Leo had pulled nearly all of the home's innards into his box. He was about to start on Toriel's room and the children's room next to that, when he felt something… odd. Something familiar. Something off. Something that put him on edge. Leontius dropped what he was doing to instead investigate the off feeling. Moments later, he understood.

"No..." He immediately burst out of the home's front door and drew his claymore, and his eyes darted across the empty and silent front yard area of the house.

'An invader. How…? Of course. If they could invade me in the painted world, they could quite easily invade me here, through a magic barrier... ' Invaders were quite the issue on the surface. They are undead who would make pacts with demons, and gain powers that allow them to project avatars to remotely attack other undead with. That would mean this invader's actual form was somewhere nearby… but how? Why and how would someone follow him here, unless it was… "Kirk. Who else would it be…" Kirk was a rather troublesome, and infamous, invader. The man had a particularly brutal and cunning fighting style, one which earned him the name of "Knight of Thorns." The undead actually weaponized his very armor. He covered all his arms and armor in a coat of wicked steel thorns and gnarly, raw blades. In a close melee, the man would barrel into his targets shoulder first, grapple them, bash them with his shield… all the while his nasty, rusted blades did their work on his victims. Many undead have fallen to him… and Leontius was one of his most frequent attempted targets. The two were practically rivals at this point. Kirk had many of his avatars dissipated by Leo, and Leo had many of his adventures interrupted by Kirk's invasions and persistent stalking.

And now, he was here, at the Underground, at Mount Ebott.

A sudden sound from the hall ahead issued out, a haunting and familiar sound, the sound of an invader's avatar manifesting. The sounds slowly ended and finally cut off, and the red-hued phantom form of Kirk walked into view. Like usual, no sound came from it, and no shadow was casted by it. It was still a strange sight to behold. Kirk seemed to be looking at him somewhat sideways… inspecting him, as it were. He didn't recognise Leo out of his vanguard armor and mask. He seemed to conclude he had indeed invaded his target based on the claymore, though. Kirk untied his horrific-edged sword (no sheath could hold such a thing) and unbacked his shield, which looked more like a hunk of wrought iron, complete with jagged protrusions twisting every which way. He took his normal cocky battle stance, why worry when he was covered in weapons? Meanwhile, Leo adopted his readied two-handed stance, he had no shield, little armor… but what he currently lacked in equipment, he made up for in skill with his claymore and experience in battle. And speaking of experience, Kirk stayed his usual tactic of instantly rushing in, he knew that starting off like that didn't work well against Leontius. He'd need *some* tactics.

The two began to circle around the dead tree between them, attempting to get an opening on the other, however, Kirk was getting impatient with this, Leo could tell. After a few more seconds of pacing, Kirk made to jump over the roots of the tree and dash at Leontius. What Kirk didn't count on was the corporeal undead having a force spell ready, which was unleashed right into his helmeted face, sending the Knight of Thorns soundlessly to the purple stone underfoot. Leontius back stepped from Kirk's downed form just as he tried to sweep at at his legs from the ground, but Leo made a swipe with his longer range blade as he did so, catching the phantom in his outstretched leg. A pulse of white phantasmal "blood" flowed weightlessly from the phantom as the enchanted blade sliced through his thin armor, eliciting a silent yell of pain and a roll onto his feet. The phantom was not even hardly perturbed by the attack though, invaders are not affected by damage locationally, instead taking damage to dissipate them wholly alone. Kirk was wary now, Leontius rarely used magic against him. Most of the time the other undead was in dangerous locations and he wanted to reserve his magic for later encounters, instead of simply exhausting himself for a single fight, so Kirk was unsure of his magical capabilities. While the phantom was busy sizing up his opponent, Leo was charging up his magic and readying spells. Kirk could not find out about the rest of the Underground.

'It would be a massacre.'

Kirk slowly advanced, shield held at the ready and sword braced against it, ready to thrust. Leontius had his guard up, and his spells were nearly ready thanks to all this stalling. Kirk threw his blade forward quickly in a jab, but the attack was redirected to the side and downward with a guarded turn of Leontius' claymore, leaving Kirk wide open for a counterattack. Unlike Asriel, Kirk lacked unnatural movement and reflexes, and he was subject to a powerful stab under his guard and through a gap in his phantom's chest armor while he was off balanced. The amount of phantom blood pouring from the wound was actually audible, like a lower pitched version of the manifestation noise. With his riposte successful, Leo pushed forward and towards Kirk, pushing him back and to the floor. Leo then pulled the blade from the limp phantom and backed as far away as he could, only for the phantom to get back up and ready himself again.

Kirk was quite the persistent one.

Just as Kirk was about to rush Leo again, he was met with a heavy soul arrow to the chest. Leo's spells were ready. The staggered phantom slowly backed away, phantom blood and wounds all across his invader's form. Just as he recovered to move again, he noticed Leontius had pointed his sword directly at him from range, and a focused soul attack was rapidly coalescing around the claymore. Before anything else could happen, Leo released the beam from his weapon and it easily pierced straight through Kirk's phantom and quickly dissipated it in a cloud of red smoke.

While the cloud moved in the air, Leo remained slightly tensed. 'As annoying and persistent as Kirk is, he should at least know when to give up. We have fought numerous times before…' As the cloud vanished, Leo let himself ease up a little for the moment, and he sheathed his blade. 'I can still easily handle his phantoms, but what else can pierce the veil of the Barrier? And where is his true form…? He would certainly need to be at least near the drop into the mountain… if not, he is already inside the Ruins somewhere close to the entry. I doubt he could get through the sealed and locked doors deeper in. He has not shown much in the way of magic… this is still highly off putting, though. No doubt I will have to tell Toriel about this.'

With that, the undead returned inside the home to finish gathering Toriel's things from it, then he'd be off as quick as he could to figure out this new threat.

Kirk would certainly be back, that was for sure. Whether or not he'd be able to invade Leo deeper in the Underground was yet to be seen.

020


	21. Responsibility

021

Once he defeated Kirk's phantom invader, Leo wasted no time and finished cleaning out Toriel's home. After shutting off all the home's lights he briskly left for the Ruins exit and sealed it off once more using the spell Toriel taught him. If Kirk was somehow making his way through the Ruins, Leo would have some time before the other undead managed to get close enough to send another phantom, as well as the time needed to recover after having it banished, however, Leo found that these self-assurances did little to actually clear his mind.

'Not even in this place will I have peace… but Kirk will not get far. If I cannot convince him to leave willingly, I will find him and send him back to his last bonfire in pieces, or perhaps I could just end him with the Dark Hand... how will I tell Toriel about this…' He decided to cross that bridge when he gets there, and be truthful about it. The recent events also reminded him of the river person's warnings. One thing was certainly becoming clear, he wasn't quite free of the surface yet; he'd have to take responsibility for leading that maniac to the Underground… and whatever else may come after.

After testing the door to see if it was sealed, Leo was satisfied that it had worked and began his journey back to Snowdin. 'I will have to warn the sentries to get back to town…with Kirk in the Ruins, these woods are not safe. Perhaps it would be best to deal with him as soon as possible…' He finished the long walk from the door to Sans' post, and passed the empty sentry box…

'...So much for easily falling back into civilized life with a job and relationship.' He passed the dimensional box area, and noticed a pair of monsters standing together ahead. They looked avian, with white fluffy feathers and ornate looking head crests. The slightly larger of the bird monsters was wearing a pair of eyeglasses and a bowtie; he was talking at the smaller one, who looked rather abashed despite only have a beak to make expressions with. As Leo approached, he caught the conversation. "...I was so worried son! I'm lucky I managed to get your friend to tell me where you are, he hardly listens to his elders to begin with…" The bird looked away from his son when he noticed Leo out of the corner of his eye and he looked at the human oddly. "Um… good evenin'?" The bird's son looked at Leo as well, but was silent since he was still too ashamed.

Interaction with normal people… this could be a slight challenge. "Hello. I was just at the Ruins, and I am on my way back to Snowdin. There is… something very dangerous in the Ruins, and... it... may get out." The father looked concerned yet skeptical, and the son seemed a little scared at the mention of danger. The father looked between his son and Leo, and decided he needed some clarification. "I may not come out here 'offen, but I know just as well as any other monstah that the Ruins've been locked for a long time." -The monster gave Leo a sideways look- "How'd you even know if anything was in there if you can't get in?" Leo shifted his stance a little, he was feeling his anxiousness under the scrutinous look of the crested bird. "I was sent there by the previous guardian of the Ruins to retrieve something. I unlocked the doors… went in… and encountered a dangerous being. Of course, I resealed the exit once I handled the thing and my business there, but the being is not defeated quite yet. I would suggest leaving these woods as soon as you can. I will be telling anyone else I meet out here the same, so if you see anyone… please make sure to pass on the message. Especially to any sentries; they cannot stay out here, that thing is far too strong for them." Judging from the father bird's reaction, that seemed to convince him. "Alright mistah… we'll be getting outta' here then. C'mon Snowy, let's go." The smaller bird nodded, a look of fright accompanying his muted "Yeah, dad…" in response. The two went off into the woods, seeming to take their own path. Leo simply continued on, he'd stick to the way he'd been taking on the beaten path. A short ways ahead he came upon the Roguelike dog's post, still devoid of the guard in question.

'Better keep moving. It won't be long until Kirk will be able to send phantoms again.'

Past the maze and golf-course… just ahead was the dog couple's sentry posting, which was un...dogged(?). Continuing on, the hidden switch puzzle… past that, the X/O puzzle, and finally the stone-sword dog's post. The last time Leo came through, he wasn't paying much attention. He somehow managed to walk right past the dog, while he was building snow sculptures of all things. 'Quite a large detail to miss…' He approached the dog from behind and gave him a tap on the shoulder, getting a confused "Aroo?" and an unnatural looking head turn in response. 'Still somewhat disturbing for a dog… monster. That would explain the abnormality.' He cleared his throat and put aside the oddness, and decided to try and communicate with the dog. He was still unsure if this and the large dog were capable of understanding him. "Good evening. I would like you to come back to town with me, there is something dangerous in the woods and I do not want to see anyone get hurt." The dog stopped building his sculpture, which caused the head to promptly fall right off as soon as it lacked his support. The dog didn't seem to mind though, he was certainly curious, and Leo was expecting some kind of answer. "Well…?" No response, just panting and a steady staring look. With a huff, Leo decided to just try to give the dog a pat and see if that would convince him. The second his hand moved, the dog got just as excited the first time they met, and he seemed to be actually listening now, and was nodding his somewhat elevated head as a yes. "Good. Let us get going then, your comrades further in the forest appear to already be in town, judging by their empty posts." The two then went on with Leo in the lead and the happy dog guard behind him, dragging his long-shield through the snow by the top of the rim. They carefully crossed the ice ahead and walked by the final guard's post, not finding the giant-armored dog in his doghouse/post, or anywhere in that vicinity. Not even the snow poffs held him in hiding. The bridge to Snowdin proper was ahead.

Leo gave the dog a pat to get his attention away from searching the snow poffs, the larger dog wasn't here. "Come on, we need to keep moving, or-" That feeling again… Kirk had a phantom in the woods. He had moved deeper into the Ruins, he must be at least before the exit… or at worst, actually somewhere in the woods. He was breaking seals and traps, somehow. Leo pointed to the town across the bridge now that the dog was awaiting his command. "Go! Get across the bridge, it is here! I will handle it, when you get over there, just… stay!" The dog didn't so much as blink before taking the command, picking up his shield and getting across the wood-and-rope bridge as soon as he could, disappearing into the town. With the dog safely out of the situation, Leo unhooked his box and opened it up to root around for a shield. He wasn't liking how naked he felt with just his blade and lightly armored coat, what with one of the most dangerous invaders being this persistent. He found a suitable piece, the enchanted one he wielded alongside his vanguard armor. Its effect was similar to the mask's youthful invigoration effect, but not quite as potent. The enchantment was mostly in the paint, which was fairly well-worn by now. It would still do its job though, it always has. Leo closed his box and replaced it, drawing his claymore and retreating across the bridge to wait for the invader. He reasoned that Kirk would have less room to fight and dodge if he was confined to a bridge's width to work with, as long as Leo kept the pressure on to prevent him from getting off it. The second his boots touched ground on townside end of the bridge, he heard it. On the other side, the invader manifested and released its haunting noise, rising from the snowed ground and straightening out as Kirk took control of the avatar. Kirk already had his weapons at the ready. The thing's head snapped to Leo's direction, before cockily slow-walking across the bridge to him. It seemed his attention was solely on his target, he didn't seem to even care about the background town behind the other undead. As Kirk approached, Leo held his blade and shield up, blade ready for thrusting attacks and shield prepared to block and parry.

For a moment, Kirk stopped, a safe distance from Leo's blade, yet still in combat range. He finally looked away, to see the buildings behind his target. Kirk seemingly froze. He saw the distant and undefined shapes of the monsters in the town, happy and going about their business. Not a one was aware of what was about to happen just outside their town.

"Kirk!"

The invader's attention was back on Leo, more strange behavior. For all he knew, Leo was some mute undead behind a mask, he had never uttered a word before this. In fact, he had never seen the face of his target. He only knew him by his equipment, that mask specifically. No name to him, just that he was a strong source of humanity and soul power he'd yet to take down. But now he was speaking, unarmored, and seemingly… guarding a town of some sorts. Underground.

Leo's stance became more aggressive, he was poising to strike soon. "Kirk, you had best listen, and listen well. I am no longer going to participate in what goes on above. I have a home now, and you are threatening it. You being here is a threat to these people… and I shall not allow you to bring harm to them. Walk away, dissipate your phantom, and homeward to your last bonfire. Never return here." Kirk gave Leo a sideways look, trying to see past the protective undead. "This is a warning, Kirk. Do not take it lightly." Kirk's phantom remained there for a few moments, staring at Leo and shifting on the bridge.

Kirk was… somewhat speechless. Literally, because phantoms cannot speak, and figuratively because he'd just discovered that Leo actually had an end goal similar to his own, protecting someone else. In his target's case, it turned out that he was trying to protect this entire underground place. Kirk may be an invader, yes, but he could see when he had to give up the trail on a target. And Leo was a valuable target. Was. But Kirk isn't like most invaders, he has something-or someone- else other than self-gain. And so does Leo. Slowly, carefully, he tied his sword back to his side and went to return his shield to his back mount… before his phantom form was lifted up into the air by an unseen grip.

Leo watched in confusion as the invader's phantom seemingly levitated, its body going limp. Suddenly, a massive, vertical, black tear opened up on the phantom's midsection, as if he was pierced by a monstrously large, yet invisible blade. No phantom blood was leaking. 'That is an actual wound that just happened to Kirk's true form. His phantom is reflecting what is happening to him...' Leontius' jaw subconsciously dropped at the sight, and his weapons slowly lowered as the limp form of Kirk's phantom was slammed to the bridge's deck, yet it was no longer interacting with the world on a physical level anymore, it was just a physical representation of Kirk's form. The wound slowly decreased in size, then suddenly was almost a tiny line; as if the weapon was just pulled free...

'Something else is out there. Something far larger. Kirk is certainly done for, he is likely back at his last bonfire already…' Feeling slightly numbed, Leo sheathed his blade and turned, heading back into town, to his new home. 'I am going to have to get ready for someone- or something- far worse than Kirk. But what has a blade like… oh, of course. The knight on wings with eyes of red. He had a massive blade, if I remember correctly; it could certainly make that wound. And he is also a magic user… the Ruins will not hold him for long at all.' Leontius kept trudging through town, headed home with grim news. At least he had gotten Toriel's belongings from the Ruins.

/

With a satisfying screech of wrent metal armor and undead flesh, The Pursuer easily pulled his ultra greatsword from his latest quarry's now unmoving body, which vanished in a wave of ash-like dust in non-existent wind. Lucky, that this particular undead had ended up going the same way as him, and lead him right to the mountain's entry. It took some destruction getting through the ruins, particularly that house above, to get to his target. Unfortunately, the undead was invading someone else and was stationary. An easy yet unsatisfying kill. But that's not what The Pursuer came here for. He came here to investigate that immense influx of power… seemingly momentary, then gone. Half the kingdom felt it. Despite the enormity of his arms and armor, The Pursuer, with his great eagle, was the fastest of those who did feel it to get to this mountain. This undead must have been coming here for- and invading- someone else. Someone past these great, stone doors… Another target in his path, on the way to find that power.

The Pursuer straightened up, his customized suit of vanguard armor producing plated steel wronks and screeches as he did so. The purple stone door before him was barely wide enough for him… but it would be enough. He charged up his sword, then thrust the glowing blue blade into the crack between the doubled doors. The magically charged sword effortlessly smashed the door. The seal was a complete afterthought, and did little to stop him.

A cold forest lay before him; his prey was somewhere ahead, and so was his power that he'd be taking soon enough. The huge knight levitated off the ground, and glided through the ruined doorway, past a bush with a camera… past an "empty" sentry post… and into the woods ahead.

021


	22. Worth defending

A/N: So, it's been awhile since I've last uploaded. Quite a few things went down, namely my dad's recent death, stressful schoolwork trying to clothesline me in my absence and prevent my graduation, and literally ALL of my family coming to stay for a whole week and a half to be with us for my dad's funeral service. The last couple of months have been getting worse and worse, but I'm going to make an attempt to get out of my near-depressed funk and start making things better. Hopefully, without any further hold-ups, here is chapter 22 and the continuation of my fic.

022

Leo's brisk walk through town to his house was rife with a mounting sense of dread and urgency, as if at any moment that massive, red-eyed, ever-pursuing knight would drop from above and initiate battle then and there. Thoughts like these ran through Leo's head over and over as he passed through the residential area of town and down to the forests and his home. More than once, Leontius felt his hand subconsciously twitch in the direction of his sheathed claymore. He knew how to fight the knight, he'd done battle with him countless times of course… but this time there were no conveniently located siege weapons or ballistae capable of piercing the knight's dark-imbued vanguard armor. It would have to be a one-on-one battle on equal ground.

Leo looked up from his ponderings just in time to see his house come into view, and he picked up the pace to a jog. Some of the lights were still on, namely in the first floor. As he got to the door, he slowed his run and began rooting around in his box momentarily.

'If I am to be fighting a foe like this with these circumstances, I will need to have a fallback. Being safe is better than regretting not taking precautions, these people are depending on me to stop the knight and they do not even know it...' At the end of that thought, he felt the metal handle of his coiled sword bonfire-poker, which he grasped and extracted from the bottomless box. The red-rusted sword let off small wisps of floating cinders as his undead hand contacted it, begging to be fueled with either Embers, Humanity, or the bones of undead. Leo walked off to the side of his home and knelt, pressing the sword into the cold, hard earth beneath him. The ceremonial coiled sword's innate heat warmed and softened the ground, allowing it to be slid deep enough down to secure itself. Once the blade was seated, Leo procured an Ember from his box, and with it in his hand, grasped the handle of the sword once more. The ensuing flash of magical warmth and light immediately had a slight calming effect on Leo, his undead bones seemingly urging him to rest at the slowly-accumulating pile of Ember-fueled ashes. He briefly succumbed to the urge and leaned closer out of instinct, having quickly attuned himself to bonfires for convenience's sake many times before. The bonfire let out a glowing miasma, signifying he'd been attuned.

As he stood, Leo was overcome with the familiar headrush; the facsimile of bloodflow, a physical trait he lacked all together with his still heart. He brushed off his coat and pants, then entered his home. Pushing the door open gave him a sense of belonging… which he quickly set aside for later, he had to be swift, lest the knight get too close to Snowdin. As Leo walked in and hastily cleaned his boots on the mat, he noticed Toriel tiredly sitting at the dining table, near where he'd last left her. She immediately noticed him when the door opened and stood to meet him, a smile gracing her features as Leo went over to her, and the equipment he'd left behind earlier.

"Welcome back Leontius, have you… is something the matter?

Looking just as troubled as he was outside, Leo spoke. "Where is Asriel?"

Toriel's concern grew, still glancing at the numb-looking form of Leontius. "He is upstairs, asleep… why?" Leontius still couldn't look away from his task of re-arming, despite his relief.

Just as he got his old coat and armor pieces off, he answered her. "Things from above have made their way down here-" A look of surprise from Toriel… "-one of that river person's ramblings have come true, however, _two_ of my old foes made it down here. One of which killed the other…" Leo leaned against the table as he began sorting out his gear, and horror corrupted Toriel's concern, prompting her to ask just what the threat was "Which is it? The knight-" Leontius popped open his box, now in his thin, regular clothing beneath the coat. Despite still busying himself, he answered for her. "-On wings with eyes of red; a deadly foe I have done battle with before plenty of times. This will be the first time I will actually have need of truly defeating him, he quite reliably flees if he fears defeat… usually when heavy artillery pieces are used against him." Leo had just lifted his suit of chainmail and slid it over his clothes then fastened it tight to himself. Toriel took a seat, she could feel a similar numbness to Leo's own taking hold: a fear for the whole of the kingdom, should the knight gain freedom to act with impunity. Toriel looked to him again. "Will any of Asgore's forces be able to stop him…?" A simple shake of the head sealed it for her. "Then you will have to take it upon yourself… you can handle him?" After asking that, a familiar set of armor made its appearance.

Leo pulled the massive set of steel Vanguard armor free of the box and carefully set on the floor so as to not damage it (the floor, of course), then he set about putting it on. His strength allowed him to lift and don the pieces easily, but Toriel soon took notice of his difficulty getting many of the discrete and protected attachment points quickly, specifically the ones on his back. She got up from the chair, and assisted him as he got the pieces on. With Toriel helping him get armored, Leo was soon coated in his old steel set in record time. The final pieces would need no assistance. His subtle, yet massively weighty footsteps creaked the floorboards beneath him as he turned back to the box and away from Toriel. She saw him re-apply his belt, sheath his claymore, and retrieve two strange flasks from his box. One of the flasks was a radiant orange that seemed like trapped and distilled warmth, the other was a cool, misty blue that gave off a strong essence of magic. After the flasks were set into their own easily-accessible pouches on his belt, Leo took the last pieces out of the box. A pair of two rings, one natural and green, the other steely and intricately etched upon. These two magical rings completed his usual set of four: the agility-granting darkwood grain ring, the load-bearing stone ring of Havel, and the stamina enhancing Chloranthy and Eternal Warrior's rings. Once these were on his fingers, Leo slid on, attached, and tightened his gauntlets to complete his armor set. The shield he would take was the grass-crest shield, which followed the theme of his two stamina rings. The enchanted shield was strapped to his left arm, freeing the use of his left hand, while still allowing him to take advantage of a shield and its enchantment. Then, the last piece, his long-time mask.

Toriel watched as Leo put the mask of the child and its hood over his chainmail coif, and with a finality he tightened the mask's strings. He was armed and ready for battle. When Leontius turned, he was exactly the same as he appeared the first time they'd met, only this time Toriel knew who was behind all of that steel. He held his box in a hand, the other retrieving another solidified ember piece, which he held out for Toriel to take. The boss monster took the warm chunk in her paws, inspecting it. As Leontius reattached his box to his belt, he explained what he'd be needing her to do while he battled the knight. "That is an ember, a kind of fuel for magical bonfires. I have set one just outside the house, and I need you to tend to it. It acts as an anchor for me; should I fall in battle, I will return there. All you need to do is press that to the handle of the sword if the flame is dying, that will keep it alive. I am unsure of how long the battle will be, so it is best to be safe." Toriel clutched the ember and looked back to the masked face Leontius now wore, and for a moment she saw through the eye holes of the childish mask, catching a glimpse of his determined gaze in the dark before he turned to leave the house. "I will return. Stay here, turn out the lights. Be safe, Toriel."

And with that, he shut the door behind him. He was off to do battle.

As Leo ran through the town to the bridge, he could feel familiar sensations overcoming him. Another great foe to overcome, more soul power to take. He may be above most undead when it comes to curbing the hungers of the curse, but he still shares the need to have purpose, to continue to have a reason to exist.

'I suppose my purpose is to defend this place from what's above, at least for now.'

It would be late at night by now, so no one was out on the street to witness his passing by. All the lights of the town were finally out as well, which would ensure the knight's attention will solely be on him. Leo still couldn't quite figure out why Kirk and the knight were here, but he had a strong suspicion that it was at least partly his fault, somehow.

When he finally arrived at the bridge, Leo slowed himself before he considered crossing. He was in much heavier armor than the previous times he'd crossed, but he rationalized that he'd have to get across one way or another; allowing the knight any ground into Snowdin would be

disastrous. Leo decided a measure of caution just in case would be necessary, so he casted a fall control spell before making the crossing, and he did his best to distribute his weight as he went. Looking down gave him flashbacks to some of his most common deaths, those being deaths by falls. Much of his kingdom's architecture tended to be on the more grandiose and 'lofty' scale, and more often than not he ended up having to climb things not intended to be tread upon.

Precarious footing, indeed.

Once he made it to the other side of the bridge, he began planning how to begin his vigil in defense against the knight. Should he go deeper in? Meet the knight halfway? Remain here, and let the knight come to him? He was unsure, considering all the options, but it seemed it didn't matter in the end. He could hear and see the tell-tale signs of a large foe approaching: The trees ahead of him seemed to be getting shoved aside or cut down, with vast amounts of settled snow being dislodged and released into the air as his enemy got closer and closer. Leo drew his claymore and decided to use this time to begin readying spells and the like, he felt this would be an intense battle. The metallic slices of the knight's ultra-greatsword taking down trees became increasingly clear, soon Leo was able to tell when the blade would meet and leave the trunk, and he could make out the shape of the knight just ahead.

Leo advanced to the more open area of the large-armored guard dog's post just as the knight came into view, having cleared enough of the path's trees to get through. For a moment, the two locked eyes- though they could not see through each other's visor and mask, they both knew their gazes had met- and the Pursuer momentarily alighted himself onto the ground to immediately begin powering up. He was not expecting to meet his quarry so soon, but he did not mind. Simultaneously, the two combatants released their empowering spells and powers, the Pursuer's visor releasing a red-eyed glow and his armor venting dark fume-like projections, meanwhile Leo's claymore glowed intensely with the multitude of buffing miracles and sorceries being released. A slight golden-green glow surrounded the undead warrior, with his various stamina and vitality enhancements having enough intensity to become visible.

The next moment, the two were at each other's throats, with the battle being kicked into high gear the second it began.

Even as tired as she was, Undyne was rapidly making her way through Snowdin, armed with one of her summoned spears and fully covered in her suit of royal guard captain armor. Matching her semi-frazzled condition, her hair-plume wasn't quite as straight and flowing as usual, suffering from a case of bedhead. The empty main street of Snowdin brought odd flashbulb memories, pictures of a similar scene of emptiness, only truly desolate. She put them aside for later, considering talking to Alphys about it since they were becoming more and more common as of late. With an unvoiced inner grunt, she sped up her pace to get to the bridge, since she saw nothing out of order in the town proper.

Alphys had called Undyne frantically in the middle of the night, warning her of something terribly strong in the area of the forest, saying it was a "dire emergency!" as she put it. For a while, Undyne was beginning to doubt the integrity of the warning, but that doubt was quickly extinguished once she caught sight of the intense battle going on across the bridge. The royal guard captain was rendered speechless by the sight she saw: a gigantic, floating, armored knightly figure with a massive round shield and equally huge glowing-blue sword doing battle with a similar grounded figure, who wielded both familiar and unfamiliar equipment . He had the human's golden-hilted greatsword so she guessed it was him, but he also now wore far bulkier armor and what seemed to be a mask of sorts. The duo of knights had made their battleground out of Tiny's sentry-dog house area, the aforementioned post having already been reduced to a small pile of splinters. The area was heavily damaged as well, with deep cuts in the ground everywhere and fallen trees lying strewn about like building toys tossed carelessly. The two knights battled on totally unaware of Undyne, who found herself gripping her spear tighter, but not yet daring to try to cross the bridge. The image of the human's show of insane speed and accuracy with his greatsword, footwork, and shield made her doubt she'd be up to snuff to fight the floating knight, considering that the two of them seemed to be more or less even. She was skilled- the human just backflipped to dodge over a horizontal slash from the knight's sword- but not _this_ kind ofskilled. Undyne shook her head at the doubt working itself into her and jogged across the bridge, if she was going to just stand by and let this human fight alone, what kind of hero was she?

Once she was on the other side, Undyne began to summon in spears, allowing them to float freely while she created more and more. Once she had a favorable amount of spears (close to thirty) she got within firing range of the intense melee and began to throw them at the airborne knight. It didn't surprise her much when they seemed to bounce harmlessly off him, not having an effect at all. If she couldn't penetrate the human's other armor, she obviously wouldn't be able to get through this veritable wall of a knight. After the last of her spears impacted, the knight chanced a gaze to see just what was pinging away at his back by rotating around Leo, spotting Undyne standing at the end of the bridge. Luckily for her, he seemed to deem her a non-threat compared to the undead warrior currently pressuring him back towards the woods.

He silently agreed with himself that he'd end her next, after he got through with his current prey.

The battle between the two surfacers continued to rage with Undyne watching on, not daring to interrupt knowing she would immediately be in the crossfire of their greatswords. Leo had just landed a well-executed parry with his shield which off-balanced the floating knight, allowing him to half-sword his claymore and thrust it through one of the few gaps of the Pursuer's dark vanguard armor. This was one of his only ways to reliably do physical damage to the Pursuer, normal strikes barely got through the armor to do damage the man beneath. Thankfully, the pursuer was in a similar situation, but his weapon was much heftier. This battle was essentially on equal ground, but Leontius had a few things the Pursuer didn't, one of which was a weapon capable of firing off traditional catalyzed spells.

While his claymore was still jabbed into the stunned knight, he activated two readied spells, one after the other. The first was crystal magic weapon, extending the size and power of his blade by coating it in crystal-reinforced soul power. The crystal extensions further damaged the knight, his armor being negated by the half-sworded pierce. The Pursuer was audibly grunting in pain now, but Leo wasn't finished. He furthered his weapon's power by firing off a soul greatsword attack, allowing him to viciously force the weapon through the Pursuer's body and armor. He pushed the knight to the ground, then onto his knees. The knight's head lolled back in pain, his grunts having been silenced. Leontius' sword was now slicing through the ground behind the knight thanks to the soul greatsword extension, but this was short lived when he finally ripped it free, with a spray of dark haze chasing it on the way out. He backed away while reaching down to his blue ashen estus flask to top off his magical focus. He had a vast quantity, but his strongest spells would quickly deplete it and he felt caution would be necessary if he needed them.

The knight slowly arose once more, the dark haze acting to seal the broken armor. The Pursuer was flagging, but his dark power could fuel him further, however, his shield arm was heavily damaged and near useless thanks to his demolished clavicle and shoulder muscles. Without a second thought, he released the now dead weight of his shield. Though it served well to block some of his foe's attacks, it would only slow him now. The massive steel slab of a round shield impacted the ground and managed to stand upright by breaking the stone with its sheer weight. The sight of resilience made Undyne curse openly, distracting Leo for a few moments since he was unaware she was behind him.

That was all the Pursuer needed to take advantage. He quickly lunged forward with his greatsword becoming a light blue in coloration. Despite being distracted, Leo knew he was backed into a metaphorical corner. He couldn't move since the lunge would strike Undyne, and he wasn't nearly readied for a parry since his shield was lowered and not facing the attack. The moment he realized these facts, the Pursuer's greatsword met his body. Its point managed to get a good enough bite into his armor to successfully pierce and go through him. The Pursuer had payed him back for that previous attack. Leo was lifted and the glowing blue sword began to suck his vitality and fuel the Pursuer's own power. With an almost disgusted air the floating knight tossed his foe off his sword and back to the middle of their battling area, giving a red-eyed flash in Undyne's direction before returning to his prey.

Leo got to his feet, a gaping hole in his left side. Thankfully the undead had inhuman resistance, not like he needed those parts of his lung and stomach. He instinctively reached down to his orange estus flask for a quick heal to get back into the battle. With his body healed of the normally mortal wound, he met the Pursuer in close combat once again.

Undyne continued to stand in the same spot, frozen and aghast at what she'd seen. These two just inflicted grievous wounds on each other, and they were still going. That really proved it to her, these surface dwellers were no longer human. The gigantic shield the knight had dropped caught her eye, and that's when a quick plan popped into her head. She had one technique that would allow her to at least help in the battle, if not put it to an end. While the knight was distracted, she readied her green soul coloring attack and approached him from behind. A quick swipe from her now green spear was all it took to permanently kill his mobility. She quickly back stepped to watch the result, which went just as planned. The knight was now stuck floating in place, a light green glow issuing out from him. For a moment, the two fighters were confused as to what had just occurred, but Leo spotted Undyne and her green spear a ways behind his foe, making clear what she'd done.

Undyne quickly tired of his hesitance. "Well? What are you waiting for?! It's not like you need to wait for an invitation or anything!"

Silently Leo took that as his sign to act, sheathing his claymore to use the dark hand technique. He knew from past victories that the Pursuer was an undead like himself, just cursed with something slightly more advanced- and undead or humans could be forced into a permanent soulless state by ripping out the deepest part of them: their humanity, the part of them that the curse fed on to keep the accursed from true death. Along with it, Leo would also pull the knight's soul out when he killed him. Slowly, Leontius approached the immobile, floating knight as dark auras enveloped his gauntleted hands. The knight could do nothing but watch as Leo got closer, still just out of range of his sword. The next moment Leo was just close enough for the Pursuer to initiate a horizontal slash.

That was the Pursuer's final folly in this hunt gone awry.

Leontius had anticipated the attack before the knight even thought to do it, and was readied to parry with the grass-crest shield. His reaction time and perfectly-angled shield allowed him redirect and deflect the attack with such vigor and force that it wrenched the ultra-greatsword from the Pursuer's grasp and into the ground next to him; then, Leo practically leapt onto the floating knight, bringing him to the ground as he assaulted him. Leo quickly plunged his right hand into the dark sealing which covered the damage he'd dealt earlier, giving him access to the Pursuer's chest. The dark hand technique allowed Leo to force his hand into the knight's chest similar to how he'd done to himself, but instead of carefully pulling a miniscule piece of his soul away, he reached deeper into the Pursuer, past the soul and to the origin of what made up "The Pursuer" and his soul: his humanity. Leo grasped at it and violently began to tear it free of his foe's body, eliciting deep cries of pain that were soon silenced once the vital sprite was wrenched out and into the cold air of Snowdin. As Leo stepped off the body of the Pursuer, he looked down at the precious mass of humanity while the sound of soul absorption rung out, causing the Pursuer's body to posthumously convulse and wholly disintegrate into ash in non-existent wind. The Pursuer's loose souls were transferred to Leo, and his own soul soon joined his humanity in Leo's opposite hand.

Undyne stood by even more astounded than before at what had just happened. The Pursuer's body and gear seemingly vanishing as ash went unnoticed by her, instead she was focused on what was in Leo's hands. She could easily tell one was a soul, its dark gray coloration and vague heart shape belied what it was. The other was unknown to her, yet still somehow familiar. Before she could further ponder what it was by looking at it- let alone work up the ability to ask what it was- Leo seemingly crushed and absorbed it into himself, and the soul was deposited into the small box at his belt. For a few moments Undyne watched as he stood tall, hands clearing of darkness and a general look of renewal after crushing the sprite. He then promptly fell backwards into the snow, letting out a low groan.

Undyne approached the fallen human, and looked down to him, pulling off her helmet, letting her bedraggled, tied up hair free of the helm-plume. "You've got a lot of explaining to do."

Leontius looked up at her through his childish mask's eyeholes, then let his head fall back before he replied. "Can I not at least get a few moments to collect myself? I did just defeat a foe who I have been dealing with for the last… oh, nevermind it." The sound of footsteps in the snow made both of them look to find the source, with Leo having to view the world upside-down since it was coming from behind him, in the direction of the thoroughly damaged forest. An image of Sans, of all monsters, was what greeted him.

"lying down on the job, huh leo? you're not trying to replace me or anything are you?" When he got no jovial response in return, he decided to cut it out, looking at the damaged battleground around him. "yeah i saw the fight. and i gotta agree with undyne though, _that_ was something i'm sure we'd have a hoot hearing you explain."

The undead let out his trademark airless huff then stiffly sat up, hand grasping at the gaping hole in his armor. "So be it, at least let me deal with this armor first… and perhaps after I have gotten adequate rest at home."

Sans knowingly winked at Leontius, not arguing with the prospect of procrastination. "hey, take your time. how about we get going undyne, you look like you just woke up or something." Undyne didn't even grace his poking remark with a response and just trudged off, a storm of thoughts raging inside her head. Sans watched her walk into the distance, before addressing Leontius. "anyways, be seein' ya around, leo." The next moment he was gone.

When Leo finally got out of the snow and to his house, the first thing- rather, monster- he noticed was Toriel standing outside by the bonfire. Leontius had long since took off his mask and put his shield on his back, and the sight of her gave him the last bit of drive he needed to get home and spend his first peaceful night in his own living place. Toriel was clutching the ember close to her chest and staring at the bonfire, tired yet determined enough to battle the night's call to remain vigilant as she watched the bonfire, but once she noticed Leo a little ways down the road, she felt relief flood her senses. As Leontius came close the two silently embraced, words being a luxury the tired duo couldn't afford. Despite Leo's armored shell, he felt Toriel's ever-present warmth easily overflow into him and renew him a deal greater than the likes of the humanity he used earlier or bonfire nearby. The two agreed to get out of the cold and into bed, it had been a long day indeed. And as the two got inside and prepared to join Asriel in their bedroom, Leo knew what his first job in the Kingdom of Monsters would be.

Defending something truly worth it.

022


End file.
